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Hezbollah leader: Kurdish vote will sow division in region

A Hezbollah supporter listens to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, pictured, as he delivers a message via video link, during the ninth of Ashura, a 10-day ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. Ashoura is the annual Shiite Muslim commemoration marking the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) A Hezbollah supporter listens to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, pictured, as he delivers a message via video link, during the ninth of Ashura, a 10-day ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. Ashoura is the annual Shiite Muslim commemoration marking the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

By Associated Press September 30, 2017 1 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has warned that a controversial referendum on support for independence in Iraq’s Kurdistan will lead to dividing several countries in the region.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Saturday night that the referendum held on Monday does not threaten Iraq alone but also Turkey, Syria and Iran, which all have large Kurdish minorities.

Iran, Turkey and Syria rejected this week’s symbolic referendum, in which Iraq’s Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence.

Nasrallah said the divisions would also reach other countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, a country that he harshly criticized in his speech.

“The responsibility of the Kurds, Iraqi people and concerned counties … is to stand against the beginning of divisions,” Nasrallah said.