Iraq interim const signing delayed; Ayat Sistani bans illegal entry

By: Hamoud Kufi

HOLY CITY OF NAJAF, Iraq: Iraq's Ayatullah Sayyed Ali As-Sistani on Friday has banned illegal entry into the country after the bloody bloodbath in the holy cities of Karbala and Kazemiyah on Ashoura Day, the tenth of Muharram.

In a decree issued Friday, the Ayatullah said: “It is illegal to enter Iraq other than by official border posts… It is also illegal to take part in or profit from money made from smuggling.”

Meanwhile, last minute differences delayed indefinitely the signing of Iraq's new interim constitution, touted as a big step on the road to democracy, amid a heightened security alert in Baghdad.

Iraqi officials said five Shiite members of the Governing Council refused to sign the constitution after Ayatullah As-Sistani rejected parts of the document.

The Shiites' move came immediately before a planned signing ceremony Friday, which was delayed.

In another development, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the bloc is ready to send troops to Iraq if the new sovereign government that is to take over on July 1 makes that request. He also said that the UN should provide a mandate for a stabilization force for Iraq under a sovereign government.

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