Zabari: Iraqi Kurds may Gain Autonomy

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zabari said Kurds had become the "arbitrators of the politics" after the Iraqi elections and they might gain autonomy as the "grand award".

Zabari, of Kurdish origin, was speaking to The Financial Times. He was predicted to have 75-85 deputies at the 275 seat parliament. According to Zabari, Kurds could provide a balance between the Shiite lists of the religious leader Abdulaziz Al-Hakim and current interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani, meanwhile, made a statement in Erbil yesterday (Febuary 2) and repeated that although Kurdish autonomy may not achieved in the short run, it is inevitable. "When the right time comes, this will be realized," stressed Barzani adding that national self-determination a natural right of the Kurds. An unofficial referendum on Kurdish independence was conducted in the Kurdish region last Sunday (January 30) and it is claimed that 95 percent of the 1.9 million Kurds participating in the referendum demanded independence. The eyewitnesses pointed that even children cast votes in this referendum and some participants cast multiple votes.