Iraq MPs vote against Kurdish ‘referendum’

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament's on Tuesday voted against plans by Kurdish leaders to hold an independence referendum just two weeks before it was to be held, echoing regional criticism of the poll.

The non-binding referendum planned for September 25 has faced strong opposition from neighbouring Iran and Turkey, which fear it will stoke separatist aspirations among their own sizeable Kurdish minorities.

Critics of the vote, including the United States and the European Union and even members of the 5.5 million-strong Iraqi Kurdish population, say it could distract from the fight against militants.

Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces have played a key role in battling the Islamic State group (IS) which captured swathes of the country in 2014, and the fight has borne fruit in recent months.

The vote -- which prompted a walkout by Kurdish lawmakers -- came as the Kurdish parliament said it would meet on Thursday, for the first time in two years, to vote on the referendum.

Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi, a Sunni Arab, said the vote required the Baghdad government to "take all steps to protect the unity of Iraq and open a serious dialogue" with Iraqi Kurdish leaders.

But Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, who is organising the referendum, said from the disputed city of Kirkuk that the poll would be held because "all other bids" to secure Kurdish rights "have failed".

The referendum could lead to the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, an oil-rich region in the country’s rugged, mountainous north which gained de facto autonomy in 1991.