WASHINGTON Sept 18 (TNS): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that a planned September 25 independence referendum in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region would detract from the need to defeat Islamic State and to reconstruct regained territories.
The UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric in a statement said the Secretary-General respects the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Iraq and considers that all outstanding issues between the federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government should be resolved through structured dialogue and constructive compromise.
