Backgrounder: Iraq's history of interim constitutions
US hails Iraq's interim constitution
Britain welcomes signing of Iraq's interim constitution
Russia welcomes Iraqi interim constitution

    BAGHDAD, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- All 25 members of Iraq's Governing Council signed the new interim constitution on Monday in a ceremony in Baghdad.

    The constitution has originally been scheduled to be signed on Wednesday but was postponed following Tuesday's attacks on Shiite holy sites in Karbala and Baghdad. Enditem

Iraq's Governing Council opens ceremony for signing constitution

    BAGHDAD, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's Governing Council on Mondayopened ceremony for signing an interim constitution after a meeting in the morning.

    The ceremony came after the council approved unchanged the delayed interim constitution for the country and a powerful explosion in central Baghdad.

    The signing of the constitution has been repeatedly delayed because of disputes between Iraq's ethnic groups over the document,which is the foundation for the planned handover of sovereignty toan Iraqi government on June 30.

    The Council had missed a February 28 deadline to sign the constitution. A signing ceremony planned for last Wednesday was again postponed after Tuesday's bomb attacks on Shiites in Baghdadand Kerbala, which killed 181 people.

    A signing ceremony last Friday ended inconclusively as five Shiite members of the Council refused to sign at the last minute for Sistani's objections. Enditem