Report: Iraqi Kurds create post-referendum body amid row with Baghdad



CAIRO (dpa)- Iraqi Kurdish leaders on Sunday agreed to form a political council to handle issues related to a recent independence vote that has angered the central government in Baghdad and neighbours, Kurdish news portal Rudaw reported.
The decision was made at a meeting led by the president of the Iraqi autonomous region, Masoud Barzani, the report added.



The new body, Political Leadership of Kurdistan-Iraq, is replacing the High Referendum Council that took charge of the independence vote held on September 25 amid international opposition.
Participants in the meeting held in the territory's capital Erbil also rejected Baghdad's demand to cancel the results of the vote, saying it was out of question, according to the report.
On Friday, Baghdad imposed a ban on international flights to and from Kurdistan in northern Iraq as part of the backlash to the vote.
Baghdad said flights would resume if the central government assumes control of Kurdistan's airports.
More than 92 per cent of those who cast ballots voted for Kurdistan's independence, a long-held dream for many Iraqi Kurds.
The plebiscite has also drawn the ire of Iraq's neighbours - Turkey, Iran and Syria - who are concerned it could encourage their own Kurdish minorities to break away.
The row has triggered international concerns that it will distract attention from ongoing military campaigns against the Islamic State extremist militia in Iraq and Syria.
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Monday, October 2nd 2017
dpa
           


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