Iraq Says May Use Force If Kurdish Referendum Turns Violent
Fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitaries advance towards the city of Tal Afar.
Photographer: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Baghdad (AP) -- Iraq is prepared to intervene militarily if the Kurdish region's planned independence referendum results in violence, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Saturday.
If the Iraqi population is "threatened by the use of force outside the law, then we will intervene militarily," he said.