Iraq president blames Kurdish poll for Kirkuk assault

Iraqi President Fuad Masum (L) meets with Iraqi Kurdish president Massud Barzani at the house of late Iraqi president Jalal Talabani in Dokan, some 70 kilometres northwest of Sulaimaniyah. (AFP)

BAGHDAD: Iraqi President Fuad Masum on Tuesday blamed a Kurdish independence referendum for triggering a military intervention by Iraqi forces to take control of the disputed province of Kirkuk.
鈥淗olding a referendum on the Kurdistan region鈥檚 independence from Iraq stirred grave disagreements between the central government and the government of Kurdistan,鈥� Masum, himself a Kurd, said in a televised address.
That 鈥渓ed to federal security forces retaking direct control of Kirkuk,鈥� he said.
Iraqi Kurds voted overwhelmingly on September 25 for independence from Baghdad.
Regional president Masoud Barzani had pushed ahead with the poll in defiance of Baghdad, Washington and Iraq鈥檚 neighboring states.
Masum, who belongs to a rival Kurdish party long at odds with Barzani, said the central government had made 鈥渟trenuous efforts to reach a solution.鈥�
But, he said, a 鈥済rave crisis... broke out between the federal government and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan because the latter insisted on unilaterally holding the referendum.鈥�