Iraq's Kurds Vote In Independence Referendum

Kurdish men and women cast their ballots amid tight security in Irbil on September 25 in an independence vote organized by the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region. Over five million people are estimated to be eligible to vote in the nonbinding referendum, held in spite of opposition from Iraq's central government and the UN. The election is expected to give Kurdish leader Masud Barzani, who came to vote in a village near Irbil, a mandate to negotiate with Baghdad and neighboring states over the secession of the oil-producing region. (Reuters)