The constitution would be written by the US-appointed governing council which critics accuse of being unrepresentative American lackeys.
Secretary of State Colin Powell told The New York Times on Friday:
"We would like to put a deadline on them - t
hey've got six months. It'll be a
difficult deadline to meet, but we've got to get them going."
He also raised the possibility that Iraqis themselves could set a
timetable in the near future, adding that he has
asked Iraqi leaders to estimate how long it would take to write
a constitution and conduct elections.
"Now, if they take forever to give us the answer to that
question, then we've got a problem," Powell said. "But I think
they'll give us an answer fairly quickly."
UN resolution
Powell's comments come as the US is attempting to force through
a new UN
resolution to muster international help
to stabilise post-war Iraq.
They also come as the UN's annual General Assembly is
under way amid widespread doubts about the world body's future role
in Iraq.
The administration of US President George Bush is at
loggerheads with France, Germany and Russia - who opposed the
Iraqi war - over a timeline for
the transfer of Iraqi sovereignty.
Powell said the constitution drafted by Iraqi leaders would
spell out whether Iraq should be governed by a presidential or
parliamentary system, and clear the way for elections and the
installation of a new government in 2004.
Not until then, Powell stressed, would the United States
transfer authority from the US-led occupation to Iraq itself.