Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani asks for steps to organize referendum on independence

ARBIL – Reuters

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Kurdistan Regional Government President (KRG) Masoud Barzani asked the region’s parliament on Thursday to form a committee to organize a referendum on independence, according to a parliament member who attended the closed session.

“The president asked us to form an independent electoral commission to carry out a referendum in the Kurdistan region and determine the way forward,” said lawmaker Farhad Sofi, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). President Barzani did not offer a timetable on the proposed committee’s work of organizing a referendum, several Kurdish lawmakers said.