Jalal Talabani is president of Iraq, a country that many of his fellow Kurds don't believe in. The autonomy of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq is making it harder to resist demands for other autonomous regions in Iraq. That, in turn, adds to fears that Iraq could break apart.
Last week, at the United Nations, Talabani issued a warning about the constant violence that threatens to split Iraq into three distinct parts.
"We say it openly, our people's patience is nearing its end, particularly when it sees the blood of its innocent sons and daughters being spilled and defiled..." he said.
In an interview with NPR, Talabani explains that he's impatient with Iraq's neighbors, citing Syria, Iran and Turkey.
"We are asking them to stop interfering in our internal affairs, and especially the sovereignty and independence of Iraq," he says.
If the violence doesn't stop, he says, the Iraqi people will "support the opposition of other countries" and "will try to make troubles for them as they have done for us."
Talabani's statement surprised Peter Galbraith, a longtime American adviser to Iraq's Kurds.
"To hear him say that Iraq is prepared to support opposition groups, armed opposition groups implicitly, in each of these countries is a reflection of real frustration with what's going on in Iraq," Galbraith says.
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