Kurdish president warns Iraq's unity not guaranteed

President of the autonomous Iraqi province of Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, has warned Washington that the unity of Iraq is "voluntary and not compulsory" after the White House insisted on the need for a united Iraq to counter jihadis.

Barzani met US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday to ask for more weapons for the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and more humanitarian aid for the million-and-a-half refugees who have fled to Kurdistan from elsewhere in Iraq and Syria, Efe news agency reported.

"We believe that we have a humanitarian as well as a national responsibility," Barzani told a conference at the Atlantic Council in Washington shortly after meeting Obama and Biden.

"But, of course, the burden is huge and we cannot afford it alone," he added.

Barzani, the commander-in-chief of the Kurdish troops or Peshmerga fighting the IS, warned that the unity of the Kurdistan region with the rest of Iraq was voluntary despite White House pressure for a greater national cohesion.

"Certainly the independent Kurdistan is coming," he said.

"The referendum will take place when the security situation is better, when the fight against ISIS (as IS was formerly known) is over," added Barzani.

The Kurds have long wanted independence, and a referendum scheduled for last year was postponed to focus on fighting the IS, a priority Washington supports.

"Both leaders (Biden and Barzani) agreed on the profound need for close cooperation between the government of Iraq, the Kurdistan regional government, and the global coalition in the ongoing fight against ISIL (another former acronym of the IS), particularly with respect to the liberation of Mosul," said a statement from the White House.

"They also agreed on the need for close coordination between Baghdad and Erbil to advance key elements of the government of Iraq's national programme," the statement continued.

The US believes the unity of different Iraqi regions, groups and factions is key to defeating the IS, and supports the formation of an executive council led by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, a Shia, with representation from Iraq's other major ethnic groups.

--Indo-Asin News Service

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