BAGHDAD, Iraq - It was supposed to provide a ray of hope to a wounded nation, but instead it caused it more pain.

On Friday, Iraqi leaders were to sign an interim constitution they have said was so liberal it had no equal in the Arab world and maybe beyond. It redressed the ills of decades of dictatorship, restored the rights of every component in Iraq's tribal, ethnic and religious mosaic and laid down principles of democracy and human rights.

But the 25 members of the Governing Council, Iraq's U.S.-appointed interim leadership, never showed up for the elaborate signing ceremony. Instead, they were bogged down in intensive talks after last-minute disagreements surfaced.

Spokesmen for the council and the U.S.-led coalition tried to play down the significance of the delay, insisting it was due to technical issues. For hours they held out hope the document would still be signed Friday.

But by midnight, eight hours after the ceremony was to have begun, it became clear that Iraq's "historical day" was not to be. Reporters and a handful of coalition officials - no more than 100 from an original audience of at least 600 - were the last to leave the marble-and-glass Convention Center. The complex was at the heavily guarded "green zone" that houses the coalition headquarters on the west bank of the Tigris river.

Hopes were running high in the hours before the document was to have been signed.

"We want so many things. We want law, we want order, a president and a strong government," Iraqi journalist Nahrawan al-Janabi, 25, said before the signing was delayed. "Today is a step. A positive one."

Ahmed Hamed, a member of Baghdad's 37-member city council, said, "People need this. It's a starting point toward security and stability."

Such sentiments are not uncommon in today's Iraq, where a huge political void remains nearly 11 months after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Humiliated by occupation and torn by a spate of horrific terror attacks, sectarian tensions and a sense of uncertainty, Iraq at times looks like a nation on the verge of chaos, even civil war.

The interim constitution is supposed to give Iraqis the rights and freedoms they never had and facilitate the transfer of power from the coalition on June 30. That would provide something of a reprieve from the woes and the tragedies that have stalked the nation for months.

Reporters were asked to arrive three hours ahead of the ceremony for security reasons. U.S. helicopters hovered in the skies and security was visibly beefed up on the ground, with more than the usual number of troops on duty.

"Please don't do anything to spoil this historical occasion," one coalition organizer said as he went through the "do's" and "don'ts" with journalists.

Organizers brought 25 gold-and-blue fountain pens and neatly arrayed them atop an antique desk once used by Iraq's first monarch, Feisal I, for council members to use when they sign the document. A huge banner behind the desk declared: "We all participate in the building of Iraq."

Guests posed for photos next to the desk. When it became increasingly likely that the ceremony was not going to take place, photographers turned their cameras to the desk, the motionless pens and the empty chairs with name tags reserved for members of the council and the Cabinet.

With cameras flashing, some Iraqi guests lightheartedly sat on the desk and pretended to be signing the document.

A children's choir in gray and white uniforms and a group of classical musicians in black ties also were on hand for entertainment, along with six children wearing colorful Assyrian, Kurdish and Arab costumes - underlining the country's unity.

They all ended up performing to warm applause from Cabinet ministers and coalition officials - perhaps in a bid to lift the morale as the Iraqi politicians haggled behind the scenes.

"Ask the stars and planets about us, they'll tell you that we are an ambitious generation," a group of children sang. "We love our country and our country loves us."

Fatma Hassan Mohammed, one of the guests, said, "I am ready to stay here all night in support of the constitution. They need to introduce changes, this is democracy and freedom of expression."