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Iraqi Federal Court to Issue Decision to Annul Kurdish Referendum

Kurdish former President Masoud Barzani sits with Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim (R) during his visit in Kirkuk, Iraq September 12, 2017. (Reuters)
Kurdish former President Masoud Barzani sits with Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim (R) during his visit in Kirkuk, Iraq September 12, 2017. (Reuters)
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Iraqi Federal Court to Issue Decision to Annul Kurdish Referendum

Kurdish former President Masoud Barzani sits with Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim (R) during his visit in Kirkuk, Iraq September 12, 2017. (Reuters)
Kurdish former President Masoud Barzani sits with Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim (R) during his visit in Kirkuk, Iraq September 12, 2017. (Reuters)

The Federal Court of Iraq will issue on Monday a final decision on the annulment of the independence referendum held in the Kurdistan region and disputed areas in Iraq, predicted Kurdish sources.

Local sources meanwhile stressed that the authority in Kurdistan “will announce its commitment to the court’s decision.”

After long discussions between the federal authority and the Kurdish leadership in the region, an understanding was reached to transfer the case to the Federal Court. This is similar to a recent decision by the Court pertaining to Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity, to which the territorial government has declared its commitment.

A Kurdish legal source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there was some kind of agreement between the federal and regional authorities to resolve the referendum crisis by turning the matter to the Federal Court.

According to available information, the court will issue a decision to cancel the referendum and the regional government will later announce its commitment to the decision, paving the way for negotiations after meeting the demands of Baghdad.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, researcher and expert in international politics, Masoud Abdul Khaleq said: “There have been arrangements made for the annulment of the results of the referendum by the parties of the dissolved referendum council, [specifically members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani and its allies in the Patriotic Union and the Islamic Union], by signing a pledge to cancel the results of the vote, provided that this position is not broadcast to prevent embarrassing the Kurdish people.”

“It seems the Iraqi authority is satisfied with this proposal, so the process will take place through the Federal Court, which will issue the decision and then the regional government will declare its commitment to it,” he added.

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Arab World

Aoun: Lebanon Appreciates Saudi Crown Prince’s Efforts to Promote Regional Stability

FILE - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun gestures to journalists at the Presidential Palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun gestures to journalists at the Presidential Palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
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Aoun: Lebanon Appreciates Saudi Crown Prince’s Efforts to Promote Regional Stability

FILE - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun gestures to journalists at the Presidential Palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun gestures to journalists at the Presidential Palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun hailed on Wednesday the “balanced and wise” efforts made by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, saying his endeavors have created an “atmosphere to support stability, which Lebanon appreciates as a source of pride”.

In a post on media platform X, Aoun added: “We hope that Lebanon will be an integral part of this effort. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the sponsor of the Taif Agreement, is trusted by the Lebanese, the countries of the region and the world”.

Arab World

Syria's Kurds Register for Citizenship after Decades of Marginalization

"Unregistered" Kurds, who have been stateless since a controversial 1962 census, have been flocking to registration centers across Syria. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
"Unregistered" Kurds, who have been stateless since a controversial 1962 census, have been flocking to registration centers across Syria. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
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Syria's Kurds Register for Citizenship after Decades of Marginalization

"Unregistered" Kurds, who have been stateless since a controversial 1962 census, have been flocking to registration centers across Syria. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
"Unregistered" Kurds, who have been stateless since a controversial 1962 census, have been flocking to registration centers across Syria. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

In a packed hall in Qamishli's sports stadium in northeast Syria, Firas Ahmad is one of dozens of Kurds waiting to apply for citizenship after many in the minority were barred from doing so for decades.

Since last week, "unregistered" Kurds, who have been stateless since a controversial 1962 census, have been flocking to registration centers across Syria to apply for citizenship, based on the interior ministry's instructions.

"A person without citizenship is considered as good as dead," Ahmad, 49, told AFP.

"Imagine not being able to register my children or our homes in our names," he said, adding that "my grandfather never had citizenship, and we have been living without official documents ever since".

On the tables facing long queues of people, registration forms were scattered along with personal photos and old documents, while government employees were recording the data.

The new measure follows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's January decree granting citizenship to Kurds residing in the country, including those who have been unregistered for decades.

It also enshrines the Kurds' cultural and language rights, and recognizes Kurdish as a national language.

The decree came during weeks of clashes between Kurdish fighters, who once controlled swathes of northeastern Syria, and government forces after which an agreement was reached to integrate the Kurdish administration into the central state.

The integration included government forces entering the previously Kurdish-controlled cities of Hasakeh and Qamishli in February, and the appointment in March of senior Kurdish military leader Sipan Hamo as assistant defense minister for the eastern region, among other steps.

- 'We suffered greatly' -

The lack of citizenship affected many aspects of daily life, from the inability to register births and property ownership to difficulties in studying, moving around, travelling and working, leaving many without full legal recognition of their existence.

"We suffered greatly," says Galya Kalash, a mother of five, speaking in Kurdish.

"My five children could not complete their education, and we could not travel at all. Even now, our house is not registered in our name."

Around 20 percent of Syria's Kurds were stripped of their Syrian nationality in a controversial 1962 census in the northeastern Hasakeh province.

Ali Mussa, a member of Hasakeh's Network of Statelessness Victims, told AFP that there are around 150,000 unregistered people in Syria today.

There are around two million Kurds in Syria, most of them in the northeast.

Mussa called on authorities to show "flexibility in implementing the decision and to provide facilities for residents outside Syria" who may not be able to travel due to their refugee status in Europe or fear of flight disruptions due to the Middle East war.

Authorities are expected to keep registration centers open for a month.

Abdallah al-Abdallah, a civil affairs official in the Syrian government, told AFP the period could be extended.

"The most important compensation for these people is gaining citizenship after being deprived of it for all these years," he said.

In the registration center, Mohammed Ayo, 56, said not having citizenship made him feel "helpless", including being unable to get a driver's license or book a hotel room in capital Damascus as it required prior security clearance.

"You study for many years, and in the end they say you have no certificate," he said, adding that, after finishing high school, he was unable to obtain an official document to study at university.

"We did not even have the right to run for office or vote."

Arab World

Trump Says Israel and Lebanon Leaders to Hold Talks Thursday

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
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Trump Says Israel and Lebanon Leaders to Hold Talks Thursday

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump ‌said leaders of Lebanon and Israel will speak, saying he was "trying to get a little breathing room" between the countries, after more than six weeks of war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. 

"It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!," Trump wrote in a social media post published before midnight on Wednesday, Washington ‌time. 

It did ‌not say which Lebanese and Israeli ‌leaders ⁠would speak, or give ⁠any further details, Reuters reported. 

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the offices of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. 

The conflict spiraled out ⁠of the US-Israeli war with Iran, with ‌the Iran-backed Hezbollah opening ‌fire in support of Tehran on March 2, prompting ‌an Israeli offensive in Lebanon just 15 months after ‌the last conflict.  

Washington on Wednesday expressed optimism about reaching a deal to end the war with Iran.  

Israel's security cabinet convened late on Wednesday to discuss a possible Lebanon ‌ceasefire, a senior Israeli official said. Another senior Israeli official and a senior ⁠Lebanese official said ⁠Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was under heavy pressure from Washington to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon. 

Netanyahu, in a video statement released late on Wednesday, said the Israeli military continued to strike at Hezbollah and was about to "overcome" the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil. 

The senior Lebanese official said that Lebanon’s assessment was that Israel wanted to secure a victory in Bint Jbeil before diplomatic progress could be made.