Iraqi govt to freeze financial ties with Kurdish region

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraq’s parliament on Tuesday adopted a bill that would force Baghdad to halt all financial transactions with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

The bill -- now law -- was submitted by parliament’s financial committee.

The legislation was approved by a wide majority of assembly members.

A large number of Iraqi-Kurdish lawmakers, however, failed to attend the parliamentary session.

Earlier Tuesday, parliament also decided that all MPs who participated in last week’s illegitimate referendum on Kurdish regional independence would be referred to Iraq’s Federal Court for investigation.

The moves by parliament come in the wake of a Sept. 25 poll in which Iraqis in KRG-held areas -- and in several areas disputed between Baghdad and Erbil -- voted on whether or not to declare independence from Iraq.

According to poll results announced by the KRG, almost 93 percent of registered voters cast ballots in favor of independence.

The referendum had faced sharp opposition from most regional and international actors, many of whom had warned that the poll would serve to distract from Iraq’s ongoing fight against terrorism and further destabilize the already-volatile region.