Residents of the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk north of Baghdad were stocking up with supplies on Saturday ahead of the planned controversial referendum on independence for Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
People in the city fear the situation could deteriorate if the plebiscite set for Monday goes ahead, as the oil-rich province is disputed between the federal government in Baghdad and the regional government in Arbil.
Iraq's government has called the referendum unconstitutional, with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejecting it, "whether today or in the future".
Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani on Saturday delayed a scheduled news conference on the referendum as international pressure mounts for a postponement.
But on Friday, he had again insisted the vote would take place, despite a UN Security Council warning that it was "potentially destabilising".
"The price of food has gone up by 20 percent. What the politicians are doing only benefits businessmen, and it's the poor residents who suffer," market vendor Omran Khodr told AFP on Saturday.
Kirkuk is not one of the three provinces that have been part of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq since 2003.
It is in an area disputed between Baghdad and the Kurds who claim it is theirs historically, since Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein chased them out and replaced them with Arabs.
Saturday's rush by Kirkuk residents to stock up came as the body responsible for organising the referendum said it would indeed go ahead on Monday.
"The referendum will take place on the day scheduled," the organising committee announced.
– Inter-party differences –
The issue has highlighted differences between the two main Kurdish parties, Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani.
Mudah Bakhtiar, a member of the PUK political bureau, told journalists his party "believes that the alternative (to the referendum) proposed by the UN and the major powers is acceptable".
The United States and other Western nations are backing a UN-supported "alternative" plan for immediate negotiations on future relations in exchange for dropping the referendum.
"We believe that taking into consideration the international conditions… the proposal meets the strategic objectives of our people and we have informed Massud Barzani and the KDP of our position," Bakhtiar added.
The PUK not taking part in the referendum would greatly diminish its scope. The KDP controls Arbil and Dohuk provinces, but the PUK controls Sulaimaniyah province and the city of Kirkuk.
A visit by a Kurdish delegation to Baghdad has not proved fruitful, with a body of Shiite groups saying after the meeting that there would be no negotiations if the vote goes ahead.
The Kurdish authorities say a "yes" vote would not result in an immediate declaration of independence but would pressure Baghdad for concessions on key issues such as oil and federal financing.
But Barzani has also come under increasing international pressure not to hold the referendum which he himself set in motion.
And Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned on Saturday that Ankara's actions in response to the planned referendum would have "economic and security dimensions".
Turkey warns of 'security' steps in response to Iraqi Kurd vote
Ankara (AFP) Sept 23, 2017 –
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned on Saturday that Ankara's actions in response to a controversial independence referendum in Iraq's Kurdistan region would have "economic and security dimensions".
"The steps will be taken in close cooperation with Iraq, Iran and other neighbouring countries. These measures will have diplomatic, political, economic and security dimensions," he told reporters in the central Turkish province of Kirsehir.
When asked whether a cross-border operation was among the options, Yildirim said "naturally" but "it is a question of timing as to when the security, economic and political options will be applied."
He added: "This will be determined by developing conditions."
Turkey has repeatedly voiced opposition to the Kurdistan Regional Government's non-binding independence vote on September 25, urging it to cancel the poll.
Ankara fears the vote could stoke separatist aspirations among its own sizeable Kurdish minority as it continues to fight Kurdish militants in its southeast.
Yildirim was speaking before the Turkish parliament holds an extraordinary session Saturday to discuss the extension of an existing mandate to use Turkish troops abroad in Syria and Iraq.
The mandate was first approved by parliament in October 2014 and has been renewed every year, allowing military action in Turkey's two southern neighbours against Islamic State extremists and other groups deemed by Ankara to be terror organisations.
Turkey launched a military drill featuring tanks close to the Iraqi border last week, and on Saturday the Turkish armed forces said the "second phase of the military exercise continued with the participation of additional troops".
Despite opposition from Turkey, Iraq and Iran as well as the United States, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani insisted on Friday that the referendum would go ahead.
Iraq's chief of staff General Othman al-Ghanimi arrived in Ankara earlier for talks with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar on the poll as well as the fight against terrorism, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The top Turkish general is due to pay a visit to his Iranian counterpart before Erdogan visits Tehran on October 4, Hurriyet said, but did not say when Akar would go.
India cross-border firing kills six Pakistani civilians: military
The Pakistani military Friday said six people have been killed and over two dozen wounded in firing by Indian troops, in the latest cross-border violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The incident occurred within the last 24 hours near the frontier dividing Indian-held Kashmir from Pakistan's Punjab province, known as the working boundary, Pakistani officials said.
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