PhotoBAGHDAD — Iraq is prepared to intervene militarily if the Kurdish region’s planned independence referendum results in violence, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday. If the Iraqi population is “threatened by the use of force outside the law, then we will intervene militarily,” he said. Iraq’s Kurdish region plans to hold a referendum on Sept. 25 to gauge support for independence from Iraq in three governorates that make up its autonomous region, and in disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyThe leaders of Iraq’s Kurdish region have said they hope the referendum will push Baghdad to negotiate a path for independence. Mr. Abadi said such negotiations would be complicated by the referendum.

Source: New York Times September 16, 2017 21:44 UTC