Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Kurds Stick to Independence Vote Despite US Request to Postpone It

Aug 12, 2017 | Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters
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Iraq’s Kurds are sticking to a plan to hold an independence referendum on Sept. 25, despite a U.S. request to postpone it, a high-ranking Kurdish official told Reuters on Saturday. The United States and other Western nations are worried that the vote could ignite a fresh conflict with Baghdad and turn into another regional flashpoint. Turkey, Iran and Syria, which together with Iraq have sizeable Kurdish populations, all oppose an independent Kurdistan.