News / On The News Line

Criticisms growing against Kurdish independence push

Wednesday, 20 September 2017 1:16 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 21 September 2017 5:37 AM ]

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, on September 16, 2017. (Photo by AP)

These are the headlines we are tracking for you in this episode of On the News Line:

Criticisms growing against Kurdish independence push

International criticisms against a plan by the Kurdistan Regional Government to become independent from Iraq have been rising lately. Countries like the United States have been more vocally warning that this would undermine the integrity of Iraq. They have also been warning that at a time when the war on Daesh is progressing the push by the Kurds to seek a country of their own would only undermine the war on terror. But it was perhaps the Iraqi Prime Minister who had the harshest words against the Kurdish independence drive. Haidar al-Ebadi has warned the Kurds they would play with fire through their ambition for independence.

Saudi dark rights record exposed by HRW

Saudi Arabia is once again criticized over what many consider as the kingdom’s abysmal rights record. This time the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch has condemned the latest wave of crackdown on dissent by Riyadh. The rights organization has described the detention of dozens of people in Saudi Arabia as politically motivated. It says nearly all peaceful dissidents have been tried by the kingdom’s Specialized Criminal Court. Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, says such moves indicate Riyadh’s complete intolerance toward those who speak out for human rights and reform.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk