Iraqis Commit To Deadline for Drafting Charter

Bodies of 19 Shiites Found in Capital

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, August 2, 2005; Page A08

BAGHDAD, Aug. 1 -- The writers of Iraq's new constitution committed themselves Monday to completion of a draft charter by Aug. 15, sticking to a tight timeline that sets new elections in December and could allow significant U.S. troop withdrawals as soon as early spring.

Iraqi and U.S. forces already are preparing for some of the first concrete moves toward an American drawdown. A top-level U.S.-Iraqi task force is due to meet this month to start defining the conditions that must be met for the United States to begin bringing home its 138,000 troops stationed here, U.S. military spokesmen said. And Mowaffak Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, separately identified cities in the more stable south and north where he said withdrawal of foreign forces could likely start now.