Iraq's divisions open up on two fronts

摘要

Iraq's federal government in Baghdad is facing mounting pressure over an impending referendum on Kurdish independence in the north of the country and rising tensions with a key oil producing province in the south. The Iraqi parliament declared on 12 September that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plan for an independence vote later this month is unconstitutional, and authorised Baghdad to take all necessary measures to guarantee Iraq's unity. But members of the KRG's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party have vowed to proceed with the referendum regardless.