After two weeks of heated debate, a missed deadline, and two postponements, Iraq's Governing Council formally signed a landmark interim constitution Monday, having resolved last-minute reservations by the country's leading Shiite cleric.

Before an audience of Iraqi dignitaries and coalition officials, the 25 council members smiled and joked with each other as they signed the charter on a table that once belonged to King Faisal I of Iraq.

"Today, we are witnessing an historic moment, a decisive moment in the history of the glorious Iraqi people," said Mohammed Bahr al-Ulum, who holds the council's rotating presidency this month. "We stand here during this historic moment to put the foundation for the reconstruction of a new Iraq; a new, free, democratic Iraq that protects human rights."

The relaxed atmosphere at the signing came in marked contrast to the acrimony over the weekend generated by the refusal of five Shiite council members to initial the document on Friday. They were apparently acting on the advice of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's pre-eminent Shiite cleric who has emerged as the most powerful voice in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

That final hiccup was only the latest in a series of disputes that has dogged the process since the council members began a series of marathon sessions last month to forge an interim constitution by Feb. 28, a deadline they overran by nine days.

The signing was also postponed for two days last week to mark a mourning period for the victims of the devastating bombings of Shiite holy shrines in Karbala and Baghdad that killed at least 181 people.

The protracted wrangling over the document, which took on religious and ethnic dimensions, does not bode well for what will surely be a sharper debate over a permanent constitution.

The Shiites, which account for about 60 percent of Iraq's population, had reservations about a Kurdish-backed clause dealing with a permanent constitution as well as the composition of the presidency.

The clause states that the permanent constitution will fail if two-thirds of the population of three provinces object. With minority Kurds controlling the three northern provinces of Dohuk, Suleimaniyeh, and Arbil, Shiites feared that the clause granted the Kurds a veto.

The Shiites had also wanted a council of five presidents in which three would be Shiites and the other two split between a Kurd and a Sunni. The interim charter instead provides for one president and two deputies.

The dispute was resolved when Ayatollah Sistani was persuaded by Shiite council members to drop his objections and allow the signing to proceed. Any further delays in passing the document risked upsetting the transfer of sovereignty from the US-led coalition to an Iraqi interim government on June 30.

In the end, the Governing Council met Monday morning and approved the charter unanimously with a show of hands. Before anyone could change their minds, the 25 councilors were ushered before the glare of television cameras to seal their decision by initialing the charter.

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