ANKARA, Nov 18 (AFP) - 12h19 - Iraqi Kurds will
have no choice but to proclaim independence in the
event of civil war in Iraq, Massud Barzani,
president of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish
zone, said Friday.
In an interview with Turkish television station NTV
on a day of fresh bombings of Shiite mosques in
Iraq, Barzani said an outbreak of civil war would
force Iraqi Kurds to exercise the "right" to
independence.
"May God save us from civil war, but if others start
fighting among themselves and there is an outbreak,
we will have no other alternative," he said.
He said that while independence was a "natural and
legitimate right" for Iraqi Kurds, they would "at
this stage" implement the country's new constitution
in support of a "democratic federal and pluralist"
Iraq.
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Massoud Barzani
President of Kurdistan
Region (Iraq)
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