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Barzani: Kurd region poll to occur despite opposition
[Al Jazeera] The president of Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan has vowed to go ahead with an independence referendum set for next week despite intense opposition by the Iraqi government and international powers.The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to hold the referendum on support for independence on September 25 in three governorates that make up the region, and in some disputed areas, including the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and parts of the northern province of Nineveh. "Referendum is no longer in our hands or political parties, it is in the hands of people," KRG head Masoud Barzani said on Friday to thousands of cheering supporters who packed the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. "The same people who are threatening us have not come to ask why we are holding a referendum," Barzani said, according to a report from Kurdish news portal Rudaw. Posted by: Fred 2017-09-23 |
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