Parliament voted Aug. 15 to give negotiators another seven days, until Aug. 22, to try to draft the charter. The delay was a strong rebuff of U.S. President George W. Bush's insistence that the deadline be met to maintain political momentum and blunt the deadly insurgency.

Shiite politicians said the unresolved issues were women's rights and the right of Kurds to eventually secede. But Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said the key stumbling blocks were the distribution of oil wealth and federalism, a broader way of stating the Kurdish autonomy issue.

The confusion over outstanding issues left unclear whether they will now reopen talks on all issues or just focus on a few.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 20, 2005
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