The team charged with drawing up Iraq's new constitution was locked in debate yesterday over whether to ask for more time to write the charter and resolve persistent divisions among them.

The deadline for requesting an extension is August 1. If no request is made by that date then a draft of the document is due to be presented to the Iraqi parliament by August 15.

Some members of the 71-strong drafting committee have indicated that they would like a month longer to write the document, but others are adamant no extension should be sought.

"There is an idea to delay it for 30 days but this decision has not been finalized," said Bahaa al-Araji, a leading Shiite member.

According to Iraq's interim constitution, drawn up last year with the help of US and British diplomats, an extension of six months can be requested.

If a delay is granted, it would set back the timetable for Iraq's transition to democracy, a timetable the United States is very keen the country's politicians stick to.

The schedule calls for the draft constitution to be written by August 15, put to a referendum by October 15 and elections for a new government to be held under the charter by December 15.

Any application for an extension has to be made by the head of the committee, Humam Hammoudi, to the head of the parliament.

While some Shiites and Kurds on the committee favour a delay, there is by no means unanimity among the members, and many Sunni Arabs are staunchly opposed.

"All our members have rejected any request for an extension for any reason," one Sunni Arab member said. Sunni Arabs have 17 members on the committee.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the team, said he did not think a draft of the document would be ready by August 1, as Hammoudi had hoped, and said an extension might be needed.

"The Americans want to make a quick constitution. They have a lot of experience in fast food, but they can't make a fast constitution," he said, adding that US officials had been putting pressure on the team to get the job done.

"We want to be on time, but it's not possible to prepare the draft and hand it to the national assembly by tomorrow."

Saddam attacked in court?

In another development, Iraq's special tribunal yesterday denied reports that an unidentified man had attacked ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during a court hearing in Baghdad and that the pair had exchanged blows.

"This report is wrong. The tribunal respects human rights in its treatment of those accused," a court spokesman said, adding that there was "neither a verbal, nor a physical" attack on Saddam.

The former leader's Amman-based defence team on Saturday said 68-year-old Saddam was attacked by an unidentified man as he was leaving the courtroom after a hearing on Thursday.

Thursday's hearing of the tribunal related to possible charges against Saddam Hussein over the brutal suppression of a Shiite uprising in 1991 following the Gulf War.

Yesterday, the violence continued. Five US soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks in Baghdad. A car bomb exploded south of Baghdad, killing five civilians.

Gunmen ambushed the convoy of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi in a town south of Baghdad, killing one of his guards.

(China Daily August 1, 2005)