Iraq’s Kurds to Insist on Federalism

Iraq’s leaders will be attempting to break the deadlock on a new draft constitution at a national conference amid signs that Iraq’s Kurds are unwilling to compromise on their demands for autonomy.

Iraqi Kurds have rejected suggestions the country should be proclaimed an Islamic state in the new constitution and refused to compromise on the incorporation of oil-rich Kirkuk into their autonomous northern region.

Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan, assured Kurdish MPs that he would insist on federalism and retaining the Kurdish Peshmerga militia when he meets Iraqi leaders to discuss the constitution on Sunday in Baghdad.
Aljazeera.net