Kurds reject calls to delay independence referendum


Iraqi Kurdistan was on a collision course with its western backers last night after its leaders pledged to go ahead with an independence referendum in the face of last-minute calls for a postponement.

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, and Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, were attempting to persuade President Barzani of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region (KAR) to accept negotiations with the central authorities in Baghdad for a new timetable.
He indicated that he was in no mood to compromise, particularly as Kurdish MPs last night voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with the plan. “We have heard many empty promises until now,” Mr Barzani told a rally in the Kurdish city of Dohuk. “The referendum will not be delayed The people of the Kurdistan…


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