Iraqi Vice President Says Iraq Will Not Accept 'Another Israel'

Iraqi Vice President Nouri Maliki, an opponent of Kurdistan independence, said Sunday that Baghdad will not put up with the emergence of "another Israel" in Iraq's north, referring to the upcoming independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.


“We will not allow the establishment of another Israel in northern Iraq,” Maliki said, following a meeting with the US ambassador in Iraq, as quoted by the Iraqi News outlet.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv was supportive of Kurdish efforts to create their own state. 

He expressed a "positive attitude" toward a Kurdish state in the Kurdish areas of Iraq, calling the Kurds "brave, pro-Western people who share our [Israeli] values." Iraqi Vice President Maliki, on the contrary, stressed that the independence bid was unconstitutional, and urged the cancellation of the referendum.
  [sputniknews.com]
 18/9/17
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