DHAKA: Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) president Masoud Barzani asked the region’s parliament on Thursday to form a committee to organize a referendum on independence.

A parliament member who attended the closed session, said. Turkish daily Hurriyet publishes this report.

‘The president asked us to form an independent electoral commission to carry out a referendum in the Kurdistan region and determine the way forward,’ said lawmaker Farhad Sofi, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

President Barzani did not offer a timetable on the proposed committee’s work of organizing a referendum, several Kurdish lawmakers said.

BDST: 1827 HRS, JULY 03, 2014