RNA – During his Friday prayer sermon delivered to a large crowd of believers in the Iraqi city of Karbala, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Ahmad al-Safi strongly reacted to the recently-held independence referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region and the efforts of the leaders of that region to separate from Iraq and said, “The suffering of the Iraqi people has not ended due to the existence of the Daesh terrorist movement in their lands and we have unfortunately witnessed the attempts by some groups and individuals to divide the country and form an independent state in northern Iraq.”
The representative of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani expressed that the revered source of emulation has always emphasized the preservation of the national and territorial unity of Iraq and added, “The people of Iraq must not take steps toward sectarianism and racism.”
Hujjat al-Islam al-Safi called for the commitment of the Iraqi people to the spirit and text of the country’s constitution and emphasized that, according to the law, any dispute between the Kurdistan Region and the central government should be resolved by referring to the federal court.
The custodian of the Holy Shrine of Hadhrat Abbas warned against any attempt to divide Iraq and added, “The separation of the Kurdistan Region from Iraq will have many negative outcomes and consequences and has the potential to endanger the lives of our dear people in Kurdistan and will lay the groundwork for foreign interference in the affairs of the country.”
He said, “The government, politicians and representatives of the Iraqi parliament must consider the rights of our Kurdish brethren in their decisions and must not fail in this regard.”
Hujjat al-Islam al-Safi called for the expansion of the spirit of national unity and added, “The recent political issues must not have a negative effect on the strong ties between the various ethnic groups in the country, such as the Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.”
The Kurdistan Regional Government held a non-binding referendum on secession from Iraq in defiance of Baghdad’s stiff opposition on September 25. Kurdish officials said over 90 percent of the voters said “yes” to separation from Iraq.
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