as far as barzani is concerned, they will remain kurdish. the second question was to direct them to form a committee that would set about the way in which those living here in the north of iraq would go to the polls in a referendum that would decide their fate, especially whether they will continue to be a semi-autonomous region in iraq or whether they separate completely and have their own state to add to the political chaos, the continued political struggle and power struggle here in iraq. you have already the sunni/shia struggle inside iraq proper with the inability of maliki to form a government. you have the fight up north with the militants, and now you have the kurdish issue as well. so turbulent times here in iraq, and people will be monitoring how things develop very closely. >>> also in iraq 32 turkish drivers have been released by sunni rebels. the men had been captured in mosul on june 9th. the foreign minister said that they moved to occur dish controlled irbil. they're holding another 45 meem abducted from the kurdish consulate

hers are taking the opportunity to push for their own independent state masoud barzani the leader of the kurdish regional government told the b.b.c. quote everything that's happened recently shows that it's it's the right of kurdistan to achieve independence from now on we won't hide that that's our goal it's not me who will decide on independence it's the people barzani says he will hold a referendum on kurdish independence in the coming months with the parliament at a standstill thought i see this bringing down the necks of baghdad and at least twenty four hundred deaths just in the month of june alone many both inside and outside of iraq are worried that the country may be on the brink of collapse a collapse that many say has its roots in the u.s. military's involvement in the region here's artie's marina with more all over the arab world america has left behind its military footprint but i believe america is exceptional in part because we have shown a willingness through the sacrifice of blood and treasure to stand up not only for our own narrow self-interest but for the interest

barzani made the comments in an interview with the bbc. he said kurds would play a part in a political solution to the fighting. but he said independence is their right. in the past month, kurdish fighters have moved into areas abandoned by iraqi forces. including kirkuk. the city has one of the country's largest oil fields. the kurds have argued with iraqi leaders for years about sharing oil revenues and they have long pushed for an independent state. >>> the u.s. treasury secretary is look toward china and encouraging leaders there to make some changes. ai uchida joins us with that story and more from the business desk. >> a lower yuan keeps exports competitive and spurs growth but hurts american exporters. jack lew will push them to do more. lew was speaking in washington to members of the u.s.-china business council. he said the yuan needs to rise. >> we need to keep making progress getting toward a market-determined exchange race. >> lew will meet with financial officials at the u.s.-china strategic and economic dialogue. they will di

maliki said barzani is trying to take advantage of iraq's confusion. he said a referendum would violate the constitution. maliki is expected to seek another term in office. observers say he's trying to show the iraqi people that he can bring calm to the nation. sunnis and kurds are demanding that maliki step down. they say the preferential treatment he's given to fellow shia muslims help fuel the count country's crisis. >>> nicolas sarkozy denied claims he tried to use his influence to avoid a probe into illegal campaign funding. the former french president is now under a formal investigation. he appeared on a news program to claim innocence. >> translator: i want to say to all those who are listening or watching that i have never betrayed them. and have never committed an act against the republic's principles or the rule of law. >> it was his first public appearance since being released from custody this week. investigators questioned him for hours. they allege he obtained information from a judge about a probe into his 2007 election campaign and they

biden told barzani by phone that u.s. leaders back iraq's leaders in their fight against the militants. iraqi lawmakers are scheduled to convene again on sunday. they'll resume talks aimed at forming a national unity government. >>> former u.s. national security agency contractor edward snowden has applied to extend his stay in russia. his current one-year residence permit is about to expire at the end of july. snowden faces criminal charges in the united states, leaking details -- for leaking details of highly classified government surveillance programs. last year he received a temporary permit to stay in russia as a political refugee. moscow is expected to approve an extension. russian president vladimir putin rejected demands from the u.s. government to hand over snowden. putin said there is no legal basis for such a move. the case remains a sticking point between the two countries. the relations are already strained over the fighting in ukraine. >>> over in north korea, authorities are playing up their missile program

prime minister barzani it's a long term relationship with. the k r g satisfies turkey's ambitions to be an energy hub for europe it satisfies turkey's ambitions to have a buffer zone between itself and highly. in iraq it satisfies turkey's ambitions to have a buffer between itself and iran so there are all sorts of multiple reinforcing reasons why the government of turkey should have a good term relationship with that's with the secret of the kurdish success that they always try to build again a functional relationship with any actor in the region i remember visiting kurdish have waters kurdish areas in syria two years ago and you know the fighting was already raging in the north of syria by the currents were minding their own business they didn't and her into the five neither to support assad nor to support the rebels and which again leads me to the question i asked you previously because the current's it seems that they came close the closest to that dream of having de facto a deed you would independence but if they don't reach any sort of

barzani made the comments in an interview with the bbc. he says current would play a part in the political solution to the fighting. he said independence is their right. in the past month kurdish fighters have moved into areas abandoned by iraqi forces including kirkuk. the city has one of the country's largest oil fields. kurds have argued with iraqry leaders for years about sharing oil revenues and longed for an independent state. >>> the turkish prime minister is seeking another mandate from the people in a new role. recep tayyip erdogan announced his running for president. next month's vote will be the first time turkish citizens can directly elect their leader. >> translator: i'm not running for president of a party or group. i will be president of the entire turkish republic. no one must doubt that i will be a leader for everyone, regardless of whether they vote for me or not. >> up until now, the president has been appointed by parliament. erdogan announced his candidacy at a meeting of his ruling justice and development party. turk

we have the national security advisor to president barzani of the kurdistan regional government. chief of staff. we have the head of the external relations department of the herd is dan --kurdistan regional government. they are coming to us from a meeting with secretary kerry following on the heels of secretary kerry's recent visit to the capital of the kurdistan region in the wake of the current critical developments. i look forward very much to hearing what they have to say about the situation in their own region and in the region as a whole and about u.s. policy toward these developments. we have an understanding that hussein will speak primarily to internal developments and that stuff up -- mustafa will speak about external relations. they have both graciously agreed to speak very briefly, probably only about 10 minutes each, and they even asked me to stop them if they have to -- if i have to, so that all of you will have more than enough time for questions and comments and discussion. i'm very grateful to them. they have been gracious and informative posts -- hosts to me on

barzani says he intends to hold the vote within the next several months. kurds make up 20% of iraq's population. they have long been at odds with the government and prime minister nuri al maliki has resisted any attempts toward independence. but over the last several weeks, sunni militants have launched an offensive across northern and western iraq. kurdish fighters have taken advantage of the instability by seizing disputed territory. they've taken control of kirkuk, site of one of the country's largest oil fields. but the kurds face opposition from turkey and iran, both of which have large kurdish minority populations. >>> the family of a palestinian teenager is planning to say good-b good-bye. his family believes he was murdered in a revenge killing. hundreds of palestinians took to the streets of east jerusalem in protest. some hurled firebombs and stones at israeli police. several people were injured. the boy was last seen on wednesday being forced into a car. he was found later in the day in a wooded area. his body reportedly had wound marks on it. m

and kurdish president masoud barzani has announced the kurds inll hold their own vote for independence. the kurds live in a relatively prosperous and stable region in northern iraq built on oil money. their relationship with the central government in baghdad has never been a close one. now they would like to separate all together. today, al-maliki said that would be illegal. >> pelley: charlie d'agata is in baghdad tonight it was just ten days ago that maliki told u.s. secretary of state john kerry tat he would form a new all inclusive government by now. >> reporter: yes, scott, this is essentially a 180 degree turn. it's just about the opposite of what u.s. officials were hoping for or even been promised. now they had repeatedly insisted that any major military support would be dependent on al-maliki at least taking the first steps toward forming a new inclusive government first. >> pelley: charlie d'agata in baghdad, thank you. the isis forces attacking the iraqi government have declared their territory a new country under strict islamic law. their leader is becoming, in effect, the

secretary of state john kerry met in erbil last week with kurdish president massoud barzani last weekto works things out with baghdad. today, in washington, kerry received other kurdish leaders, including falah mustafa bakir, foreign relations chief for kurdish regional government. i spoke with bakir this morning. prime minister bakir, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we have seen the collapse of the iraqi army up in the northern part of the country, in the face both the sunni militants from the islamic state of iraq and your own kurdish fighters who seized all this territory up there, including kirkuk. are we simply seeing the collapse of the iraqi state? >> iraq as state did not exist that much. iraq is an artificial state. what's built on old foundations will not be able to survive. we as kurds have suffered a lot. we pay the price of keeping the balance between sunnis and shias in iraq. time has come in order to correct that critical mistake. we're not ready to pay more prices for the instability of that area. the iraqi army collapsed because it was built or rebuilt on o

barzani saidsident there would be a referendum on independence, but he did not say when.said there will be a referendum but he did not say about what, he did not say which question. there will be parliament to discuss these matters. >> you have it in talking about independence for a long time, certainly as long as i've done both of you gentlemen. are you getting a more receptive response from the obama as the -- obama administration for the idea of not just more autonomy but independence? are they telling you you can have more autonomy, but we don't want you to break away entirely viewiraq? is it the same one hears from the turks and iranians? they have a considerable kurdish population and it would seem many people can accept more power and sovereignty but not independence .or kurdistan can you have de facto independence without splitting from her rack and is the u.s. government ok with that? the right to self-determination and independence is a given right. but the realities on the ground and the international circumstances and the regional powers are to be blamed. we h

president barzani was their most highly watched livestream event in history. we expect today's event to perhaps even break that record. perhaps there is a presidential directive that you have to turn your computers to this event if you are in kurdistan. friends, we are here today because the topic of the future of kurdistan is at the top of the global agenda. it is one of the key issues that is swirling around an entire set of issues triggered by recent events in iraq. of course the issues regarding the kurdish people are not new. they have been a subtext to politics in the middle east for many years and america's connection to the people of kurdistan is not new either. it's a story that has its ups and downs over the years. hopefully our government and the government in northern iraq, the government and the kurdish regional government is now entering a new era of partnership, cooperation and perhaps even alliance and we will hear more about that from our guests. i do want to before we begin i do want to acknowledge the guidance here at the institute on all th

vice president barzani has been on the front of number of times with our vice president biden to talkabout these issues. president barzani has made it clear to us he wants to add to the constitutional framework for resolving some of the disputed boundaries in which the peshmerga has moved by necessity over the last six weeks. the short answer you to your question is where an active conversation with the kurds about this and i will report you as it unfolds over the coming months. >> the united states will support more autonomy for the kurds i assume? >> do the government information processor will be an active debate and i will just say we very much support the kurds on a particular critical issue. baghdad for five months ago cut salaries of workers in the kurdish region and we have made clear that that's totally unacceptable and yesterday reversed. the kurds have also done something since cases in which we said that might exacerbate tensions in a way that wouldn't be constructive and that is why we are in a active conversation. we support autonomy than the constitutional framework cer

also to tell you that barzani told the bbc he will hold this referendum within a month.i al maliki directly responding to that call for a referendum in the kurdish region by saying that is unconstitutional and areas that have been taken through military force will be recovered. >>> do stay with us. coming up in the next half hour on "gmt," afghans still waiting to find out who will lead their country as the next president. we'll take you live to kabul. stay with us. ♪ f provokes lust. ♪ it elicits pride... ...incites envy... ♪ ...and unleashes wrath. ♪ temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms. but only one letter. "f". the performance marque from lexus. there's a new reason to love activia. when you feel good inside. you live life with a smile. but when you feel bloated, with discomfort, gas, not to mention the rumbling... you feel totally knocked out. eat activia. twice a day for four weeks. it could help you get back to feeling like yourself again. activia may reduce the frequency of minor digestive issues like bloating, gas, discomfort and rumbling. and when your

that, as you're mentioning there, the prime minister of iraqi, the president of iraqi kurdistan, barzani, coming out and annexing the oil-rich city of kirkuk, saying it is part of the autonomous region of kurdistan. you have these growing bitter divides between the shia and the sunni. some iraqis will say to you, look, clearly, we aren't able to make this work, and it's something we don't want to accept but maybe moving ahead that is the only choice we're going to have. again, further complicating all of this is isis has taken over large portions of the country, sunni lands, and so either way one looks at it, iraq is finding itself in a very difficult and challenging situation at this stage, jim. >> no question, the other part of the political compromise, the u.s. has made that an addition of additional military action there, saying that has to come first. thanks very much to arwa came be, live now in baghdad. >>> another storm, the first named tropical storm of the 2014 season could put a damper on our july 4th holidays. right now, it is off the coast of florida. we're joined now by met

vice president barzani has been on the with our vice president biden several times. president barzani wants to work through the constitutional framework to deal with the boundaries with which the peshmerga has moved. short answer, we're in conversation with the kurds about this, and i'm happy to follow up with you as it unfolds in the coming months. >> and the united states will support more autonomy for the kurds then, i assume? >> well, through the government information process, there will be an active debate. i will say we very much support the kurds on particular critical issues. baghdad four or five months ago cut funding for salaries of workers in the kurdish region. we've made clear that's completely, totally unacceptable and has to be reversed. the kurds have also done some things in some cases in which we've said that might exacerbate tensions in a way that wouldn't be particularly constructive. that's why we're in a very active conversation. we support autonomy within the constitutional framework, certainly. >> okay. i'm just saying i don't know what the f

now the kurdish president, marsud barzani wants a referendum on independence from baghdad. photos distributed by militants in the north show destruction of shia and sunni holy sites. the ayatollah ali al sistani, iraq's senior shia cleric who called for iraqis to take up arms against the sunnis. >> he talked about an iraq for all iraqis. i hope so. we'll see. >> reporter: if iraq doesn't end the sectarian crisis -- >> everything we're talking about makes no difference. >> reporter: and dempsey went on to say if that sectarian divide, if that crisis is not solved by iraq, by the iraqi government, he called the future bleak. jake? >> barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you so much. could the u.s. have done something differently even after troops left in 2011 to prevent in some way what has happened in iraq? for context let's turn to ryan crocker. he was the u.s. ambassador to iraq from 2007 to 2009. he's now the dean of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university. crocker says it's time for the u.s. to re-engage, and that should include, he says,

. >> warner: further fracturing hope of unity: massoud barzani, president of iraq's kurdish region, said again he plans a referendum on independence in the coming months. and insurgents of the newly renamed "islamic state," the former i.s.i.l. claimed new battlefield gains, capturing the syrian town of boukamal near the iraqi border. in washington, iraq's ambassador to the united states, lukman faily, called for american air strikes. these sunni "islamic state" fighters have seized control of a swath of territory stretching from northern syria into western iraq. on sunday, the group declared the establishment of an "islamic caliphate," with roots reaching back 1,400 years. it was a declaration both grandiose and brash; a spokesman said the group's leader, abu bakr al baghdadi, has taken on a new title: "calif ibrahim." >> ( translated ): therefore, he is the imam and caliph for the muslims everywhere. >> warner: today, the secretive baghdadi made his first public statement about the caliphate, in this audio recording. >> ( translated ): rush, oh muslims to your state. yes, it is your sta

president barzani made that statement public. the parliament was sitting. they will review that. if they think that 140 is addressed and the item is closed, then fair enough. if not, then it is the obligation of all parties to try to bring some closure on the discussion. not forcing status quo. >> what is 140? can you explain that. >> 140 is an item in the constitution. in 2005 the timeline was about 2007 that there will be a census -- a census done in the disputed areas. and where the boundaries, where some of the boundaries were changed, including the town of kirkuk. which was a multinational, multiethnicity town. the demographic was changed by saddam's time or not since -- i would say not since saddam's time. since the late 1950's onward, until 2003. in the constitution, it is called the disputed areas. where they were controlling kirkuk. and you have to deal with that reality. but the gist of that as well. what we are saying is in a culture where people do not forget easily and a culture in , which things have taken a long time for things to manifest itself, it cannot be reso

force there and paid a heavy price for not doing so, and we were on the ground there when maliki and barzani and alawi agreed, and in the words of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, cascaded down to 3,500 troops that hay want to leave behind which was absolutely ridiculous. so we'll be fighting this for years to come, but facts are stubborn things. we could have left a residual force if we had wanted to do so. in fact, today your predecessor said, quote, in the brookings institutes, general amos said, i had a hard time if we had been there worked with the government, worked with the parliament, minister of defense, minister of interior, i don't think we'd be in the same shape we're in today. those are just facts. general dunford, did you or any other senior military leader personally recommend the policy of everybody out by 2017, no matter what? >> no, senator. >> no military, no ranking military officer that you know recommended a hard date for everybody out of afghanistan, is that right? >> none that i know of, senator, and i think we still plan to have, as you know, some presence

i believe president barzani say there will be a referendum on independence. can you confirmay that? >> he said that referendum. he didn't say why. he didn't say about what. he didn't say which question. tomorrow, he's going to be in parliament to discuss these matters.us >> okay. the other -- [laughter] >> let's face it, you've been talking about independence for a very, very long time. certainly as long as i've known both of you gentlemen. are you getting a more receptive response from the obama administration for the idea of not just more autonomy, but independence, or are they telling you you can have more autonomy, you can sell your oil, we don't want to break away entirely from iraq. is that the same view that one hears from the turks and iranians. they have considerable kurdish population. many people can accept more sovereignty, but not independence. i'm asking you. can you have de facto independence without splitting from iraq and is the u.s. government okay with that? >> well, the need to right to serve of independence is a given right. the reality on the ground the interna