Iraq SC steps in to block referendum

Iraq's Supreme Court yesterday ordered the suspension of a September 25 referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, as legal and political pressure mounted on the Kurds to call off the vote.

"The supreme court has issued the order to suspend organising the referendum set for September 25... until it examines the complaints it has received over this plebiscite being unconstitutional," it said.

Court spokesman Ayas al-Samouk told AFP it had "received several complaints", as a parliamentary source said at least eight lawmakers had called on the court to intervene on constitutional ground.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said it had also filed a complaint against the referendum in the oil-rich autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on constitutional grounds.

There was no immediate reaction from Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, who called the referendum and has so far resisted pressure from Baghdad, Iraq's neighbours Turkey and Iran, as well as from the United States and its Western allies, all opposed to the poll.

Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said he would try to persuade Barzani at a meeting later yesterday in the Kurdish capital of Arbil.