Insecurity may Delay Iraq Constitution

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716

<snip>BAGHDAD, Iraq - The deteriorating security situation may delay drafting the country's new constitution, a key step in the return to Iraqi sovereignty, a senior Iraqi official said Sunday.

Another U.S. soldier from the 1st Armored Division was killed late Saturday and wounded when their vehicle struck a land mine in Baghdad, the military said. A British soldier was injured in a land mine explosion in Basra, witnesses said.

Iraq (news - web sites)'s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told reporters that the U.S.-appointed Iraqi administration would submit a timetable to the U.N. Security Council for drafting a constitution and organizing national elections. The deadline was set by the Security Council in a resolution unanimously adopted last month.

"However, those timetables depend on the security situation, and if the security deteriorates, we will not be able to adhere to such commitments," Zebari said at a press conference with the Spanish foreign minister, Ana Palacio.