Iraqi Kurds demonstrate for independence

Iraqi Kurds rallied in the disputed oil centre of Kirkuk Saturday to demand independence for traditionally Kurdish districts in a move likely to fan the fears of neighbouring countries with large Kurdish minorities.
Hundreds of residents took part in the protest organised by the Referendum Movement in Kurdistan. The demonstrators demanded that Kirkuk be made the capital of their proposed state, despite the opposition of the city's large Turkmen and Sunni Arab communities.
"We are an independent organisation seeking to fulfil the Kurdish people's aspirations on the establishment of an independent Kurdish state with Kirkuk as its capital," lawyer Almaz Fadhil told an AFP correspondent.
"We would like to express our extreme discontent over the current Iraqi government's policy, which has done nothing for the Kurds," she added. The rally was one of a series of events and demonstrations organised by the Referendum Movement across Iraqi Kurdistan.