Kurd counters Maliki on risk of division

BAGHDAD, Iran, July 11 (UPI) -- Massoud Barzani, leader of Iraqi Kurdistan, hit back Monday at Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's opposition to regionalization.

In a meeting with tribal leaders Saturday, Maliki warned that establishing new regions could lead to partition and civil war.

The Shiite premier spoke after Parliament Speaker Osama Nujeifi declared that if his fellow Sunnis continue to be excluded from power, they will seek a federal region for themselves, modeled on the Kurdish provinces.

Barzani, responding to Maliki, said the right to form federal regions is guaranteed by the Iraqi Constitution and the risk of conflict arises from denying that right, the al-Sumaria network reported.