Abadi urges for calm in riot-hit Irbil and Dahuk

baghdad — Iraq’s prime minister on Monday called for calm in the self-ruled northern Kurdish region after rioting the previous night following the Kurdish regional president’s decision to effectively step down.

In his statement, Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said the central government is closely monitoring what he described as “attempts to create chaos and disorder” in Irbil and Dahuk, two cities in the Kurdish region.

On Sunday, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani told the regional parliament in a letter read to lawmakers that he would not seek reelection after last month’s controversial Kurdish independence referendum that he had spearheaded sparked a crisis with Baghdad and neighbouring countries.

As the Kurdish regional parliament was discussing Barzani’s request to have his powers dissolved, dozens of his supporters rioted outside, apparently angry over the developments and trying to express their support for him.

The protesters broke into the assembly and attacked lawmakers and journalists until the police subdued them. They also attacked an office of a rival political party and an opposition TV station.

The September referendum has left the Iraqi Kurdish region increasingly isolated. Within weeks, a backlash from the vote revealed Barzani had miscalculated. The Kurdish forces lost nearly half of the territory that had controlled during the war against Daesh. —