Iraqi Premier Courts Shiites

With negotiations for a new constitution entering a tense final stage, Iraq’s Shiite Muslim political leadership ventured out Friday to rally support for the country’s government.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari traveled to the holy city of Najaf to meet with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the senior cleric whose support for any government initiative is crucial. Jafari later said the two had discussed issues relating to the constitution, but he declined to go into detail.

The mere involvement of Sistani, whose word is law for millions of Iraqi Shiites, should be an important boost for Jafari’s government, which faces intensive last-minute negotiations over the constitution amid mounting criticism and public frustration.

The diplomatic overture took place as a 1,000-strong force of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers stepped up an offensive against insurgents around the city of Haditha, northwest of Baghdad. Witnesses reported intense fighting as residents fled a city cut off from water and electricity as the joint force closed in.

Sistani’s backing in January’s parliamentary election helped Jafari’s Shiite alliance capture a majority share of the vote. But Sistani is rumored to be frustrated with the government’s performance, and Jafari’s visit may have also been a gesture to mollify the reclusive cleric.

Aides close to Sistani were cryptic about his views on the current government, stopping well short of an endorsement. Spokesman Hamid Khalaf refused to comment, and a source in Najaf close to Sistani said, “I don’t know whether he is satisfied or not with the performance of the government, but he is always asking the government to offer the public services and security.... He is asking for these vital things to be offered to all Iraqis.”

Jafari also met with Muqtada Sadr, the rebellious young Shiite cleric who is a street-level rival of Sistani.

“The Sadr movement has a lot of supporters around the country, and we wanted from the start to hold it close to enrich the political process,” Jafari said.

Sadr, a staunch opponent of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, said he supported the political process but planned to personally stay away from the writing of the constitution because of “the presence of the occupation.”

A meeting planned for Friday between Jafari and other political leaders to hammer out remaining obstacles in the drafting was delayed until Sunday. The leaders and the members of the parliamentary constitutional committee have until Aug. 15 to agree on a final document. They have refused to request a deadline extension.

The drafting process remains deadlocked over a number of issues, such as the prominence of Islamic Sharia in civil law, distribution of oil revenue and the Kurds’ desire for a decentralized federal system that would preserve their decade-old autonomy.

Protracted negotiations between Shiite Muslim, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions have fed simmering discontent among an Iraqi populace that is enduring its third straight summer of insufficient electricity, tattered infrastructure and steady insurgent attacks.

In his Friday sermon at Baghdad’s Bratha mosque, Imam Jalaluddin Saghir, a prominent Shiite leader and member of the constitutional committee, sounded a defensive tone.

“It’s unrealistic to see any improvements in a period of two to three months, especially in our circumstances,” he said.

The United Iraqi Alliance, the powerhouse Shiite electoral ticket that includes Jafari and Saghir, has come under increasing criticism for its failure to improve public security and services.

A joke making the rounds, which Saghir even used in his sermon, mocks the candle icon on Alliance campaign posters. The icon, the joke goes, is particularly appropriate because a candle is all that Iraqi voters have left when the electricity goes out.

“The Alliance represents a political project that needs a long time and stability to show its results,” Saghir said.

Hours after delivering the sermon, the imam survived an assassination attempt by unidentified gunmen, according to police and hospital sources. One of his bodyguards was killed in the attack.

In Haditha, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, backed up by fighter planes, closed in on the city from three sides. American warplanes bombed a major bridge to prevent insurgents from crossing into the city.

“We received many wounded and dead people, but we do not have the ability to treat them, no medicine and no electricity,” said Dr. Waleed Khalid, the director of Haditha’s main hospital.

The offensive, dubbed Operation Quick Strike, comes two days after 14 U.S. Marines and a civilian interpreter were killed near Haditha when their armored vehicle was destroyed by a massive roadside bomb.

Special correspondent Saad Fakhrildeen in Najaf and a special correspondent in Fallouja contributed to this report.