Washington

The United States yesterday urged Iraqi Kurdistan to call off plans for an

independence referendum later this month, warning the vote was distracting from the fight against the Islamic State group.

In a separate statement, the United Nations has also urged Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani to drop plans for a controversial independence referendum and enter talks with Baghdad aimed at reaching a deal within three years.

Jan Kubis, the top UN envoy in Iraq, offered international backing for immediate negotiations between the country’s federal government and the autonomous Kurdish region.

In a document he delivered to Barzani on Thursday, Kubis proposed “structured, sustained, intensive and result-oriented partnership negotiations... on how to resolve all the problems and outstanding issues” between Baghdad and Arbil.

Iraqi Kurdish lawmakers voted earlier Friday to hold the referendum on September 25.

“The United States has repeatedly emphasised to the leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government that the referendum is distracting from efforts to defeat ISIS and stabilise the liberated areas,” the White House said a statement. (AFP)

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200 FilsSunday, September 17, 2017 Issue No. 7507

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Womandescribes brutal attack, husbandarrested

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Police band participates at Declaration conferenceManama

Bahrain’s Police band has participated in the

exhibition and conference of the Kingdom of Bahrain Declaration and the launching of the King Hamad Global Centre for Inter-Faith Dialogue and Peaceful Co-Existence in Los Angeles, USA. Commander of the band, Major-General Mubarak Najem, said  the participation contributes in highlighting the civilised side of Bahrain.

Unlicensed demolition brings traffic to a standstillnear Sehla

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Today’s WeatherMax Min

38 °C 28°C

@HHShkMohd

Today we launched the world’s largest concen-trated solar power plant in one place; an AED14 bil-lion project with a capacity of 700 MW.

Cairo

A top court yesterday upheld a life sentence against

Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi on charges stemming from a trial over spying for Qatar, a judicial official and his lawyer said.

The court of cassation upheld a life sentence first passed in June 2016 on the charge of leading an illegal group but threw out a 15-year sentence on the charge of having stolen secret documents, his lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsud said. A life sentence in Egypt

amounts to 25 years in prison, and the court’s rulings cannot be appealed.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was overthrown by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule.

The court also upheld death sentences for documentary producer Ahmed Ali Abdo, EgyptAir cabin crew member Mohamed Adel Kilani and university teaching assistant Ahmed Ismail Thabet, as well as a life term and 15 years

for two others, the official said.

The trial hinged on accusations that the defendants had passed on state secrets to Qatar, an ally of Morsi’s government that has denounced his overthrow.Qatar has denied the charges.

Qatar is currently embroiled in a crisis with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which are boycotting the Gulf emirate for its support for the Brotherhood, among other accusations. 

Egypt upholds life sentence for Morsi

US urges Kurdistan to call off referendum

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This file photo taken on June 18, 2016 shows Egypt’s Mohamed Morsi, wearing a red uniform, gesturing from behind the defend-ant’s bars during his trial on espionage charges at a court in Cairo.

A picture shows a general view of Kurdish MPs sitting during a session of Kurdistan’s regional parliament in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Closing ceremony and finals today