BAGHDAD, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday rejected the offer of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to freeze the results of the Kurdish independence referendum to pave the way for a dialogue with Baghdad.
Abadi's comments came at a meeting with Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri in Tehran during Abadi's tour to neighboring Turkey and Iran.
A statement by his office quoted Abadi as saying "we warned (the Kurds) against it (referendum) but to no avail. We can only accept the cancellation of the referendum (results) and adhere to the constitution."
On Wednesday, the KRG proposed freeze of the results of the last month's controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan region to initiate dialogue between Baghdad and the Kurdish region after sporadic clashes between the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the federal forces.
"We offer to the government, as well as the Iraqi and global public opinion, immediate cease-fire and the halt of all military operations in the Kurdistan region," a KRG statement said.
"We are to freeze the results of the referendum conducted in Iraqi Kurdistan, and to initiate an open dialogue between the regional government and the federal government on the basis of the Iraqi constitution," the statement said.
It said the KRG does not want war with Baghdad which "will have no winner. It will instead lead the country to great devastation in all aspects of life."
On Oct. 16, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, ordered the government forces to enter the oil-rich Kirkuk province in northern Iraq to regain control of the ethnically-mixed disputed areas.
Tensions are escalating between Baghdad and the region of Kurdistan after the Kurds held a controversial referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region and the disputed areas.
The ethnic Kurds consider the northern Kirkuk province and parts of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces as disputed areas and want them to be incorporated into their region, a move fiercely opposed by the Arabs and Turkmens in the region as well as the central government.
The independence of Kurdistan is opposed not only by the Iraqi central government, but also by other countries as it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and undermine the fight against IS militants.
Iraq's neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Iran and Syria, fear that the Iraqi Kurds' pursuit of independence threatens their territorial integrity, as large Kurdish populations live in those countries.
