The crisis over elections in Iraq is destabilising the north of the country, where thousands of Kurds were yesterday campaigning for the right to remain autonomous amid fears they would be “sold out” by the coalition authorities. Most Iraqi Kurds, who make up an estimated 15-20% of the country’s 25 million people, have enjoyed virtual independence under a US and British air umbrella operating from Turkey since the Gulf war in 1991. They are now reluctant to give up their freedom to an as yet unspecified central government in Baghdad. In a series of public meetings, phone-ins, newspaper adverts and cultural events to mark “referendum week”, Kurds in the northern self-rule area have been urged to sign a petition in support of the “right to determine their future”. Full Story
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