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Bush: Iraqi constitution will be on time

Crawford, Texas / AFP
08/12/05

US President George W. Bush said Thursday that Iraq's new constitution would be completed on time and that it would be "a critical step on the path to Iraqi self-reliance" and a US withdrawal.

"We have made it clear that we believe that a constitution can be and should be agreed upon by August 15th. And so I'm operating on the assumption that it will be," he said as he met at his ranch with his top foreign policy advisers.

Bush said the US Ambassador to Iraq , Zalmay Khalilzad, had briefed him from Baghdad on remaining hurdles, which include a debate about whether Shiite regions should get autonomy and on the role of Islam.

"Obviously there's some difficult issues -- federalism being one, role of religion," said the president. "He did say that there seems to be a spirit of cooperation and a deep desire for people to work closely together." "Hopefully, the drafters of the constitution understand our strong belief that women ought to be treated equally in the Iraqi society," Bush told reporters.