Dispute over Iraqi national anthem delays voting

Ali al-Shalah, president of the Iraq Culture and Media parliamentary committee has announced that the voting on the draft law of the national anthem has been delayed by the Iraqi House of Representatives. He explained that the decision had been made because of the insistence of the Kurds to add a phrase in the Kurdish language to the national anthem of Iraq. In a press conference held on Thursday, Shalah said the House of Representatives had decided to delay the vote, adding that he had agreed on settling the issue during the month of Ramadan.   The Iraqi parliament held its eighth session in the presence of 230 parliamentarians on Thursday with the aim of passing a number of laws, including the draft law of the national anthem. Shalah said that if the House voted in favour of the Kurds, then the national anthem will be in Arabic and Kurdish with the phrase "long live Iraq" in all languages spoken in Iraq. The national anthem of Iraq has been amended several times by different regimes since the state of Iraq was established in 1922.