By Michael Georgy
Baghdad - With the deadline six days away, Iraqi leaders held talks on Tuesday aimed at breaking a deadlock over a new constitution they hope will ease guerrilla violence, which erupted again, killing at least 22 people.
A suicide bomber struck a United States military convoy in central Baghdad, killing at least three Iraqis and one US soldier and wounding 52 people, hours after rebels shot dead 10 policemen in five attacks across the capital.
Iraq's US-backed government believes advancing a political process which began with elections in January will defuse the insurgency, a loose alliance of foreign Muslim militants and Saddam Hussein loyalists that shows no signs of weakening.
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A sandstorm that spread chaos across Baghdad on Monday had delayed a second round of talks to tackle outstanding issues on a draft constitution due to be handed to parliament by August 15.
President Jalal Talabani, a former Kurdish guerrilla commander who fought Saddam Hussein, hosted a gathering of leaders from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divide. They are under intense US pressure to meet the deadline.
Talabani's spokesperson, Kamran Qaradaghi, told reporters officials discussed issues such as federalism and the control and distribution of oil resources in a "positive atmosphere".
"At this point, the determination is to meet the August 15 deadline," US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters, saying Islam's role in society and law remained a key issue.
Asked if six days would be enough to resolve differences, he said: "I think so. With determination, hard work and flexibility, I believe so."
Washington hopes Shi'ites and Kurds who gained power in the elections can form a united front with frustrated Arab Sunnis once dominant under Saddam to defeat the mainly Sunni guerrillas so that US troops can pull out.
Hours before the officials gathered at Talabani's house, the mayor of Baghdad, a secular official, said he was ousted on Monday when 120 gunmen surrounded his office and installed the city's governor, an Islamist Shi'ite, in his place.
Alaa al-Tamimi said he was not in his office at the time but the gunmen had replaced him with the governor, Hussein al-Tahhan. His account could not be immediately confirmed.
"I am appointed by the state. I handed in my resignation three times because I knew there would be trouble. Acts like these set a very dangerous precedent for a country that wants to be free and democratic," said Tamimi, who returned home from a wealthy Gulf emirate in 2003 vowing to revive a broken city.
Although the Shi'ites and Kurds have managed to draw more Sunnis into peaceful politics, hardcore Sunnis leading the insurgency are bent on toppling the government.
Relentless suicide bombings, assassinations and tit-for-tat sectarian killings have raised fears of civil war.
Talabani, a Kurdish former guerrilla leader, voiced optimism about reaching a deal on the constitution, despite the difficulties. "We are determined to go on meeting until we find a resolution to all our disputes," he said on Sunday.
Even if the charter is drafted on time, many Iraqis are pre-occupied with instability and poor services which their new leaders promised to end when they came to power.
Kurds, who have run a de facto state in the north under US protection since 1991, want federalism entrenched in the constitution. Some secular Shi'ites seek autonomy in the south.
Arab Sunnis want a strong central government with tight control over oil resources, which are located in the Kurdish north and Shi'ite south.
These issues have the potential to fuel sectarian strife if the constitution fails to balance Iraq's diverse interests.
Guerrillas kept up the pressure, killing at least 22 people in several cities.
At least 10 Iraqi policemen were shot dead in five separate attacks in Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.
Other attacks included the burning to death of two people in a truck set on fire by insurgents north of Baghdad, police said. It was unclear why the truck had been targeted.
Additional reporting by Mussab al-Khairalla, Alastair Macdonald and Seif Fouad
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