Envoy signals U.S. will take active role in shaping Iraq constitution
By Dexter Filkins and James Glanz The New York Times
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad indicated on Monday that the United States would play an active - and, if need be, public - role in brokering what he called a "national compact" among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups.
In remarks at his residence inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Khalilzad spoke twice of the need to avert a "civil war," a possibility that Iraqi and American officials speak of here with growing frequency. To reach an accommodation, he said, it would be necessary for each of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups to "accept less than its maximum aspirations.
"You don't want to do things that build the infrastructure for a future civil war or warlordism," said Khalilzad, who recently completed a stint as the American envoy to Afghanistan. "The lesson is that, if good-faith efforts are made, with a spirit of realism, flexibility and compromise, even fundamental divides can be bridged."
Khalilzad's public remarks appeared to signal a departure from previous U.S. policy. Khalilzad's predecessor, John Negroponte, had kept a low profile.
American officials want Iraqis to finish the constitution, which they hope will ameliorate the country's tensions, but are equally concerned that an ill-crafted document could sow the seeds of a future conflict. The constitutional committee is supposed to finish its work by Aug. 15, after which the document will be submitted for a nationwide vote.
Khalilzad said he expected Iraq's new constitution to enshrine the principle of "equality before the law for men and women." Those remarks seemed an admonition to the Iraqi drafters of the constitution, which in one recent version allowed issues like marriage, inheritance and divorce to be governed by Shariah, the Koranic law. That would almost certainly curtail some of the rights long held by women here.
Khalilzad also indicated that the United States would try to limit demands for broader autonomy from some of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups. Without mentioning any particular group, he suggested that excessive demands for autonomy by these groups could weaken the central government in Baghdad, which could hinder its ability to hold the country together.
Khalilzad may have been sending a message to leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority and its Kurdish minority, who have been pushing to enshrine their desires in the constitution. The Kurds have had a broad measure of self-rule since the first Gulf war. There appears to be a consensus among the drafters to allow the Kurds to retain the powers they have, but the Kurds have been pressing to expand their autonomous region and to institutionalize that expansion in the constitution, causing friction.
Similarly, the leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority are pushing for powers of self-rule that would mirror the Kurds'.
Members of the constitutional committee said Monday that they had scaled back the more restrictive provisions regarding women and family law.
A recent working draft of the constitution had provided that matters of family law were to be judged according to rulings by the family's religious sect.
The new draft, presented Monday, would allow the family to choose which set of family laws it preferred to follow, regardless of its religion. Iraqis on the constitutional committee, as well as a UN expert, said the changes would essentially leave unchanged a large body of rulings and statutes that now accord Iraqi women broad rights in family matters. But women's groups are skeptical about the changes.
Edward Wong contributed reporting from Baghdad.
BAGHDAD The U.S. ambassador to Iraq waded into the debate over Iraq's draft constitution, signaling that the United States would work to guarantee the rights of Iraqi women and to blunt the desires of ethnic and religious factions pushing for broader autonomy in the new Iraqi state.Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad indicated on Monday that the United States would play an active - and, if need be, public - role in brokering what he called a "national compact" among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups.
In remarks at his residence inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Khalilzad spoke twice of the need to avert a "civil war," a possibility that Iraqi and American officials speak of here with growing frequency. To reach an accommodation, he said, it would be necessary for each of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups to "accept less than its maximum aspirations.
"You don't want to do things that build the infrastructure for a future civil war or warlordism," said Khalilzad, who recently completed a stint as the American envoy to Afghanistan. "The lesson is that, if good-faith efforts are made, with a spirit of realism, flexibility and compromise, even fundamental divides can be bridged."
Khalilzad's public remarks appeared to signal a departure from previous U.S. policy. Khalilzad's predecessor, John Negroponte, had kept a low profile.
American officials want Iraqis to finish the constitution, which they hope will ameliorate the country's tensions, but are equally concerned that an ill-crafted document could sow the seeds of a future conflict. The constitutional committee is supposed to finish its work by Aug. 15, after which the document will be submitted for a nationwide vote.
Khalilzad said he expected Iraq's new constitution to enshrine the principle of "equality before the law for men and women." Those remarks seemed an admonition to the Iraqi drafters of the constitution, which in one recent version allowed issues like marriage, inheritance and divorce to be governed by Shariah, the Koranic law. That would almost certainly curtail some of the rights long held by women here.
Khalilzad also indicated that the United States would try to limit demands for broader autonomy from some of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups. Without mentioning any particular group, he suggested that excessive demands for autonomy by these groups could weaken the central government in Baghdad, which could hinder its ability to hold the country together.
Khalilzad may have been sending a message to leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority and its Kurdish minority, who have been pushing to enshrine their desires in the constitution. The Kurds have had a broad measure of self-rule since the first Gulf war. There appears to be a consensus among the drafters to allow the Kurds to retain the powers they have, but the Kurds have been pressing to expand their autonomous region and to institutionalize that expansion in the constitution, causing friction.
Similarly, the leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority are pushing for powers of self-rule that would mirror the Kurds'.
Members of the constitutional committee said Monday that they had scaled back the more restrictive provisions regarding women and family law.
A recent working draft of the constitution had provided that matters of family law were to be judged according to rulings by the family's religious sect.
The new draft, presented Monday, would allow the family to choose which set of family laws it preferred to follow, regardless of its religion. Iraqis on the constitutional committee, as well as a UN expert, said the changes would essentially leave unchanged a large body of rulings and statutes that now accord Iraqi women broad rights in family matters. But women's groups are skeptical about the changes.
Edward Wong contributed reporting from Baghdad.
BAGHDAD The U.S. ambassador to Iraq waded into the debate over Iraq's draft constitution, signaling that the United States would work to guarantee the rights of Iraqi women and to blunt the desires of ethnic and religious factions pushing for broader autonomy in the new Iraqi state.Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad indicated on Monday that the United States would play an active - and, if need be, public - role in brokering what he called a "national compact" among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups.
In remarks at his residence inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Khalilzad spoke twice of the need to avert a "civil war," a possibility that Iraqi and American officials speak of here with growing frequency. To reach an accommodation, he said, it would be necessary for each of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups to "accept less than its maximum aspirations.
"You don't want to do things that build the infrastructure for a future civil war or warlordism," said Khalilzad, who recently completed a stint as the American envoy to Afghanistan. "The lesson is that, if good-faith efforts are made, with a spirit of realism, flexibility and compromise, even fundamental divides can be bridged."
Khalilzad's public remarks appeared to signal a departure from previous U.S. policy. Khalilzad's predecessor, John Negroponte, had kept a low profile.
American officials want Iraqis to finish the constitution, which they hope will ameliorate the country's tensions, but are equally concerned that an ill-crafted document could sow the seeds of a future conflict. The constitutional committee is supposed to finish its work by Aug. 15, after which the document will be submitted for a nationwide vote.
Khalilzad said he expected Iraq's new constitution to enshrine the principle of "equality before the law for men and women." Those remarks seemed an admonition to the Iraqi drafters of the constitution, which in one recent version allowed issues like marriage, inheritance and divorce to be governed by Shariah, the Koranic law. That would almost certainly curtail some of the rights long held by women here.
Khalilzad also indicated that the United States would try to limit demands for broader autonomy from some of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups. Without mentioning any particular group, he suggested that excessive demands for autonomy by these groups could weaken the central government in Baghdad, which could hinder its ability to hold the country together.
Khalilzad may have been sending a message to leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority and its Kurdish minority, who have been pushing to enshrine their desires in the constitution. The Kurds have had a broad measure of self-rule since the first Gulf war. There appears to be a consensus among the drafters to allow the Kurds to retain the powers they have, but the Kurds have been pressing to expand their autonomous region and to institutionalize that expansion in the constitution, causing friction.
Similarly, the leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority are pushing for powers of self-rule that would mirror the Kurds'.
Members of the constitutional committee said Monday that they had scaled back the more restrictive provisions regarding women and family law.
A recent working draft of the constitution had provided that matters of family law were to be judged according to rulings by the family's religious sect.
The new draft, presented Monday, would allow the family to choose which set of family laws it preferred to follow, regardless of its religion. Iraqis on the constitutional committee, as well as a UN expert, said the changes would essentially leave unchanged a large body of rulings and statutes that now accord Iraqi women broad rights in family matters. But women's groups are skeptical about the changes.
Edward Wong contributed reporting from Baghdad.
BAGHDAD The U.S. ambassador to Iraq waded into the debate over Iraq's draft constitution, signaling that the United States would work to guarantee the rights of Iraqi women and to blunt the desires of ethnic and religious factions pushing for broader autonomy in the new Iraqi state.Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad indicated on Monday that the United States would play an active - and, if need be, public - role in brokering what he called a "national compact" among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups.
In remarks at his residence inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Khalilzad spoke twice of the need to avert a "civil war," a possibility that Iraqi and American officials speak of here with growing frequency. To reach an accommodation, he said, it would be necessary for each of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups to "accept less than its maximum aspirations.
"You don't want to do things that build the infrastructure for a future civil war or warlordism," said Khalilzad, who recently completed a stint as the American envoy to Afghanistan. "The lesson is that, if good-faith efforts are made, with a spirit of realism, flexibility and compromise, even fundamental divides can be bridged."
Khalilzad's public remarks appeared to signal a departure from previous U.S. policy. Khalilzad's predecessor, John Negroponte, had kept a low profile.
American officials want Iraqis to finish the constitution, which they hope will ameliorate the country's tensions, but are equally concerned that an ill-crafted document could sow the seeds of a future conflict. The constitutional committee is supposed to finish its work by Aug. 15, after which the document will be submitted for a nationwide vote.
Khalilzad said he expected Iraq's new constitution to enshrine the principle of "equality before the law for men and women." Those remarks seemed an admonition to the Iraqi drafters of the constitution, which in one recent version allowed issues like marriage, inheritance and divorce to be governed by Shariah, the Koranic law. That would almost certainly curtail some of the rights long held by women here.
Khalilzad also indicated that the United States would try to limit demands for broader autonomy from some of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups. Without mentioning any particular group, he suggested that excessive demands for autonomy by these groups could weaken the central government in Baghdad, which could hinder its ability to hold the country together.
Khalilzad may have been sending a message to leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority and its Kurdish minority, who have been pushing to enshrine their desires in the constitution. The Kurds have had a broad measure of self-rule since the first Gulf war. There appears to be a consensus among the drafters to allow the Kurds to retain the powers they have, but the Kurds have been pressing to expand their autonomous region and to institutionalize that expansion in the constitution, causing friction.
Similarly, the leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority are pushing for powers of self-rule that would mirror the Kurds'.
Members of the constitutional committee said Monday that they had scaled back the more restrictive provisions regarding women and family law.
A recent working draft of the constitution had provided that matters of family law were to be judged according to rulings by the family's religious sect.
The new draft, presented Monday, would allow the family to choose which set of family laws it preferred to follow, regardless of its religion. Iraqis on the constitutional committee, as well as a UN expert, said the changes would essentially leave unchanged a large body of rulings and statutes that now accord Iraqi women broad rights in family matters. But women's groups are skeptical about the changes.
Edward Wong contributed reporting from Baghdad.