Hours from a midnight deadline that could plunge Iraq’s fledgling political system into crisis, there was no sign of an end to deadlock yesterday over a new constitution and profound doubt over where that would lead.

Parliament was summoned for another special evening session at 7 p.m. (1500 GMT) to hear proposals from party leaders and legislators who have been working on a draft in committee. But as with a similar meeting a week ago, the outcome was unclear.

A further extension of the deadline is possible, so is a dissolution of parliament and a new election. A meeting of leaders was set for 5 p.m., officials said.

Though portrayed in Washington as a key test of Iraq’s ability to hold together and overcome the threat of civil war that looms behind the prospect of a U.S. troop withdrawal, there is little sign that clinching a deal would affect the violence.

Gunmen killed 10 people, including eight policemen, as they drove in a minivan north of Baghdad yesterday. Sunni Arab rebels have targeted the new, U.S.-trained forces of the Shi’ite-led interim government. In the capital and other cities, reports of daily sectarian murders and kidnappings keep people on edge.

At the parliament hall in the fortified Green Zone compound, came the sound from many sides of the various ethnic and sectarian divides of heels being dug in and talk of dissolving the National Assembly to start the entire process over again.

Such a prospect will look like a major setback for U.S. diplomats working hard behind closed doors to save the deadline.

Delegates from the Sunni Arab minority, which shunned the last election in January as it fought to come to terms with the loss of power it suffered with the fall of Saddam Hussein, spoke of using the ballot box to block any constitution they dislike.

Negotiators from various groups said the Shi’ite Islamist- led ruling coalition, including Kurdish leaders, was working with U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and his team to revise recent drafts into a form that Sunnis and others could accept.

<B>Alastair MACDONALD</B>