international
Iraqi Kurds reaffirm referendum stance
A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government held talks with the Iraqi government in Baghdad on Saturday, two days before a planned referendum on secession from Iraq. “The delegation will discuss the referendum but the referendum is still happening,” said Hoshiyar Zebari, a top adviser to Kurdish leader Massoud Barzan “We said we would talk to Baghdad before, during and after the referendum.” The KRG has said the vote is intended to give its autonomous territory a legitimate mandate to achieve independence from Iraq through dialogue with Baghdad and neighbouring powers Turkey and Iran. Ankara and Tehran are worried that the vote could revive the separatist aspirations of their own Kurdish populations. The Kurdish delegation met with representatives of the Shi‘ite ruling coalition, and with the Iraqi president, Fuad Masum, himself a Kurd.