A non-governmental Kurdish movement is requesting that the United Nations conduct a referendum regarding an independent Kurdistan.
The Movement for a Referendum in Kurdistan backed its request with a petition signed by 1.7 million Kurds.
According to AFP, the Kurdish organization intends to conduct a referendum on the day of the general election in Iraq, slated to take place in January 2005.
They intend to distribute questionnaires to Kurdish voters with the question: “What do you want: Do you want Kurdistan to be part of Iraq or do you want independence?”
The signatories include Kurds from all Kurdish towns in northern Iraq, Karwan ‘Abdallah, a movement official, said.
Kurds in Iraq constitute about 15-20 percent of the Iraqi population.
‘Abdallah said U.N. officials have received the petition to pass on to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The Movement for a Referendum in Kurdistan was created after the demise of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003 and enjoys the backing of the leading Kurdish parties in the country.