Kurds Offer to Suspend Independence Drive, Seek Talks With Baghdad

Kurds Offer to Suspend Independence Drive, Seek Talks With Baghdad
Iraqis Kurds celebrate with the Kurdish flag in the streets of the northern city of Kirkuk on Sept. 25, 2017 as they vote in a referendum on independence. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images
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BAGHDAD/CAIRO—Kurdish authorities in Iraq offered on Wednesday to put an independence drive on hold, stepping up efforts to resolve a crisis in relations with Baghdad via dialogue rather than military means.

But a Iraqi military spokesman suggested an offensive—launched to wrest back territory after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence in a disputed referendum in September—would continue regardless.