Alwaght- Iraq’s prime minister says his country is not pursuing an armed clash with Kurdish Iraqi authorities after the region's controversial secession referendum.
“We do not want an armed confrontation, we don’t want clashes, but the federal authority must prevail and nobody can infringe on the federal authority,” Haider al-Abadi said in a statement alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday.
“I call on the Peshmerga to remain an integral part of the Iraqi forces under the authority of the federal authorities, to guarantee the security of citizens so that we can rebuild these zones,” he said, referring areas taken back from ISIS terrorists.
On September 25, the Kurdistan Regional Government held the non-binding referendum on secession from Iraq in defiance of stiff opposition from the central government in Baghdad and much of the international community. Kurdish officials said over 90 percent of voters said ‘Yes’ to separation from Iraq.
Political observers have warned that KRG’s referendum scenario is in line with US and Israel’s policy of dividing the regional Muslim states.
