Coalition to help collect war crimes evidence
Interim constitution on council's agenda for Monday
 |  The U.S. says Iraqis will lead war crimes proceedings. |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In an effort to collect evidence to be used against Saddam Hussein at trial, a team of U.S. Justice Department officials is heading to Iraq this weekend, a Justice Department official told CNN.
The team includes 50 prosecutors, investigators and administrative staff of various Justice Department entities, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.
The official said the team will help the Iraqis sort through potential evidence for war crimes trials against former regime officials, including the former Iraqi president.
Referring to the team, the official said, "They are in an advisory role."
U.S. officials have said in the past that Iraqis would lead any war crimes proceedings.
U.S. officials will be attached to the Regime Crime Advisers Office, a division of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
The official noted that Iraq has not had a legal system for 30 years and the team members would likely spend time "teaching how to put evidence together."
Other countries that belong to the coalition are also expected to provide staff for the effort.
Constitution debate continues
Shiite members of the Iraqi Governing Council have achieved "positive progress" during talks on the interim constitution scheduled to be signed on Monday, a spokesman for the Shiite Dawa party said Sunday.
The Shiite council members have been meeting this weekend with their spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in the holy city of Najaf to discuss concerns about the draft constitution.
The Shiite members object to a clause that says if two-thirds of the voters in any three provinces reject the permanent constitution, which is to be drawn up in coming months, it will not go into effect until it is revised.
It virtually gives veto power to three Kurdish provinces. Dawa party spokesman Adnan al-Asadi said he hopes the progress during the Najaf meeting will lead to the signing of the document on Monday.
Coalition spokesman Dan Senor said the fact that the coalition-appointed Iraqi Governing Council was working to solve the problem was an important step for the country.
Senor played down the eleventh-hour cancellation of Friday's constitution-signing ceremony as an example of what happens in a democracy, be it the British House of Commons or the U.S. Congress.
"They're in negotiations," he said. "They're talking. They will reach compromise. They'll reach a solution, and I assure you they will sign an interim constitution," Senor said.
The interim constitution will be the law of the land until a to-be-elected legislative body passes a permanent constitution.
Power transfer set for June
The signing ceremony was originally to have taken place Wednesday but was first delayed for three days during a mourning period for the 181 people killed in the deadly bombings Tuesday in Baghdad and Karbala. The well-coordinated attacks took place when streets were packed with Shiite Muslim pilgrims marking Ashura, the holiest day of the year for Shiites. (Full story)
The interim constitution will not go into effect until approved by chief U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer, who is expected to approve it.
When the document is signed, the governing council, the United Nations and the Coalition Provisional Authority will meet to determine the makeup of the interim government that will take control of Iraq on June 30, the day the United States plans to transfer power to an Iraqi transitional government.
Senior coalition officials said they have started to lay the groundwork for elections in 2005 for a permanent government.
Other development:
Three U.S. soldiers were wounded Saturday when a truck bomb exploded in the volatile Sunni Triangle region west of Baghdad. The incident took place at the Khalidiyah bridge west of Habbaniya, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.CNN's Jane Arraf and Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.
