SIGNS OF PROGRESS

U.S.-appointed Iraqi leaders began debate Saturday on a proposed interim constitution that would create a three-member presidency and ensure that women accounted for at least two-fifths of a transitional legislative body and constitutional convention, Iraqi officials said.

The document would serve until October 2005, when a nationwide referendum is supposed to be held on a permanent constitution. But parties, politicians and religious figures across the country's fractured landscape have looked to the interim constitution as a harbinger of compromises that may hold sway in the final agreement. Iraqi officials say they expect potentially fierce debates over proposals on federalism, religion and quotas for women before a Feb. 28 deadline for the document's completion.