(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Alaa Al-Huwaijel BAGHDAD, Sept 18 (KUNA) -- Iraqi circles suggest the inevitability of civil war if the Kurdistan region goes ahead with a referendum to secede from Baghdad in the wake of Irbil's insistence to hold the September 25 vote.
In a public rally at the city of Al-Najaf last week, the Iraqi Badr Organization chief Hadi Al-Amri underlined this would happen as he expressed his dissatisfaction with leader Masoud Barzani's determination to hold the referendum.
The Iraqi Supreme Council's military wing secretary-general Al-Amri said that Irbil and Baghdad as well as regional and international powers needed to take a clear and urgent stance to prevent the vote from happening.
The Kurds, however, maintain the legitimacy of their decision despite fierce rejection from Baghdad.
Similarly, Iraqi Vice President Nouri Al-Maliki tweeted on Friday that going ahead with the referendum would "put everyone at the risk of conflict and war" - Kurdistan in particular.
"The future of Kurdistan is in a united Iraq, not amid another (alternative)," he argued.
While moves for military action are not yet clear, Kurdish lawmaker and senior Peshmerga officer Mahmoud Sankawi claimed a week ago that the army, the People's Mobilisation Force and tribes from Iraq may attack Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
Clashes are expected to predominantly erupt within neighbouring cities and provinces to the region, some of which are disputed between both sides.
This was confirmed by National Iraqi Alliance lawmaker Abdul Hadi Mohan Saadawi, who said, in remarks to KUNA, that there were no fears of fighting in Kurdistan's three major provinces of Irbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhok.
He warned, however, that clashes were likely to occur in the disputed province of Kirkuk and several cities in the provinces of Salahuddine, Nineveh and Diyali.
Saadawi pointed out that if the referendum fails to take place in disputed areas such as Kirkuk province, then this could possibly create a flashpoint for existing tensions and "internal strife between Arab and Kurdish factions." Meanwhile, MP Abdulsalam Al-Malaki asserted that the government would never allow the Kurds to claim areas located outside the autonomous region and the referendum, which he described as unlawful, should only encompass Kurdish territories as identified by a de facto border established in April 2003.
The Iraqi MP warned the Kurdish Regional Government that as Baghdad is preoccupied with the war against terror, any provocative actions on the part of the Kurds could put the country in peril.
On the other hand, Najiba Najib, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament, said that the Kurds' bid for independence was a legal right and that Irbil wants to avoid any escalation of hostilities, whether politically or militarily.
Najib allayed concerns that the country could plunge into upheaval, revealing that the Kurdish leadership would soon be sending a political delegation to hold talks with Baghdad within the next two days.
The Kurdish lawmaker noted that she was not apprehensive over further unrest, saying that the war against the so-called Islamic State (IS) remains Iraq's primary concern.
Najib also underscored the fact that the Iraqi people have the most to lose if war were to break out between the Arabs and Kurds, thus, it would behoove both sides to remain at the negotiating table.
On the international stage, Turkey has excoriated the referendum, as its foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state-run Anadolu News Agency that Ankara would not hesitate to use any force, if need be.
In an interview with Turkish state television, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country has always stood by the Kurdish leader in times of adversity, however, what is happening now is forcing Turkey to make a new decision.
The US has voiced its disapproval as well through a statement by the White House, in which it urged Irbil to nix the referendum and resume serious dialogue with Baghdad.
The referendum on independence is favored by the Kurds themselves, but opposed by every major power in the region. (end) ahh.sd.nam
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