The leader of Iraq's Kurds set the ball rolling today for a referendum on their long-held dream of independence, another setback for international efforts to unite the country's politicians against a militant offensive.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki broadened an amnesty offer aimed at undercutting support for jihadists, whose onslaught has have overrun areas of the country and who proclaimed a caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.
Massud Barzani told the autonomous Kurdish region's parliament that it should make "preparations to begin to organise a referendum on the right of self-determination."
"It will strengthen our position and will be a powerful weapon in our hands," he said.
The prospect of an independent state is made more attractive by what the Kurds say is Baghdad's unwillingness to resolve the issue of disputed territory and its late and insufficient budget payments to the region this year.
Barzani said Kurdish forces will not withdraw from northern territory they occupied after federal security forces withdrew at the beginning of the offensive, giving them control of areas they want to absorb over Baghdad's strong objections.
Maliki rejected that yesterday, saying "no one has the right to exploit the events that took place to impose a fait accompli" and that the Kurds' steps towards self-determination had no constitutional grounding.
On the ground, Iraqi forces were struggling to break a stalemate with militants. After wilting in the initial onslaught, they have since performed better but with limited offensive success.
A police lieutenant colonel said security forces clashed Thursday with militants near Tikrit, the northern hometown of Saddam Hussein they have been unsuccessfully fighting to retake for more than a week.
Salaheddin provincial Governor Ahmed Abdullah Juburi said Wednesday security forces were "advancing slowly because all of the houses and burned vehicles (en route to Tikrit) have been rigged with explosives, and militants have deployed lots of roadside bombs and car bombs."
It would be days before security forces could make a concerted push into the city, the capital of Salaheddin province, he said.
