BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan is ready to defend Kurds living in Syria if it is found that they are being threatened by al Qaeda-linked fighters involved in the Syrian civil war, the president of the well-armed autonomous region said.
In a letter posted online on Saturday, Masoud Barzani said he had directed Kurdish representatives to go to neighbouring Syria to investigate news reports that the "terrorists of al Qaeda are attacking the civilian population and slaughtering innocent Kurdish women and children."