UPDATE - Iraqi govt to freeze financial ties with Kurdish region

*UPDATES WITH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER’S REMARKS

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.

At a press conference held in parliament, Parliamentary Speaker Salim al-Jabouri asked the assembly’s legal committee to reveal the names of all Iraqi-Kurdish MPs who cast ballots in last week’s poll.

According to al-Jabouri, lawmakers who took part in the illegal referendum will be referred to Iraq’s Federal Court, which will initiate legal proceedings against them if they were found to have violated Iraq’s constitution by casting ballots.

“The Iraqi state is undergoing the greatest crisis in its history, which threatens the country’s unity and social fabric,” he said. “Parliament is obliged to adhere to the constitution and decisions issued [on the referendum].”

In the run-up to last week’s illegal referendum, officials in Baghdad had said that the poll constituted a breach of Iraq’s 2005 national charter.

On Sept. 25, 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 illegal referendum had faced sharp opposition from most regional and international actors, many of whom had warned that the poll would distract from Iraq’s ongoing fight against terrorism and further destabilize the already-volatile region.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara