Iraqi Shia cleric calls on KRG to cancel independence referendum

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Muqtada al-Sadr, the influential Iraqi Shia cleric, and paramilitary leader, on Tuesday called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to cancel its plan to hold a referendum to secede from Iraq.

In a statement, Sadr asked the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, to delay the referendum scheduled for Sep. 25, 2017 as “at least a first step towards canceling it in the future.”

He asked Barzani to give up on the referendum, especially now that Iraqi forces are on the verge of liberating Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq which fell under the control of the jihadist group in June 2014.

Kurdish senior officials have repeatedly stated that the Shia-majority government of Iraq is not seeking a real partnership with the KRG in governing the country but rather treats the Kurds in the Kurdistan Region as outsiders or simple guests.

They have stressed the fact that "there is no turning back" on moving forward with the referendum.

“The people of the Kurdistan Region have the right to decide on their future, whether they want to remain as part of Iraq or secede from the country,” Barzani said before.

Relations between the KRG and the federal government of Iraq have been tense in the past decade, especially over contentious issues such as the oil industry, federal budget shares, and the disputed territories.

“If we cannot be good partners in Iraq, let us be good neighbors,” Barzani has previously said.

Editing by G.H. Renaud