Iraq is prepared to intervene militarily if the Kurdish region’s planned independence referendum results in violence.<br /><br />The country’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made the statement to the Associated Press news agency on Saturday.<br /><br />He described plans for the vote on September 25 as “playing with fire0”.<br /><br />Tensions between Irbil and Baghdad have flared in the lead-up to the vote.<br /><br />What did Abadi say?<br /><br />That if the Iraqi population is “threatened by the use of force outside the law, then we will intervene militarily.”<br /><br />“If you challenge the constitution and if you challenge the borders of Iraq and the borders of the region, this is a public invitation to the countries in the region to violate Iraqi borders as well, which is a very dangerous escalation,” al-Abadi said.<br /><br />The leaders of Iraq’s Kurdish region have said they hope the referendum will push Baghdad to come to the negotiating table and create a path for independence.<br /><br />However, al-Abadi said any such negotiations would be complicated by the referendum vote.<br /><br />“It will make it harder and more difficult, but I will never close the door to negotiations. Negotiations are always possible.”<br /><br />Al-Abadi says he is focued on legal responses to the Kurdish referendum on independence. Earlier this week, Iraq’s parliament rejected the referendum in a vote boycotted by Kurdish lawmakers.<br /><br />What is the referendum plan?<br /><br />On September 25, Iraq’s Kurdish region plans to hold the referendum to assess support for independence.<br /><br />It will be held in three governorates that make up their autonomous region and also in disputed areas controlled by Kurdish forces but which are claimed by Baghdad.<br /><br />How important is the concept of statehood for Iraq’s Kurds?<br /><br />Very. It is a long-held dream for them. They were brutally oppressed under Saddam Hussein and tens of thousands died.<br /><br />A regional government was established in 1992 after the US enforced a no-fly zone across the north following the Gulf War.<br /><br />After the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein, the region secured constitutional recognition of its autonomy but remained part of the Iraqi state.<br /><br />Is there any other opposition to the vote?<br /><br />Yes. Iraq’s Kurds have come under increasing pressure to call off the vote from regional powers and the US, a key ally, as well as Baghdad.<br /><br />In a statement released late on Friday, the White House called for the Kurdish region to call off the referendum “and enter into serious and sustained dialogue with Baghdad.”<br /><br />“Holding a referendum in disputed areas is particularly provocative and destabilising,” the statement read.<br />
