- Kurdish Vice President Kosrat Rasul is facing up to seven years behind bars for describing Iraqi forces as invaders
- The news after scores of Kurdish troops were killed when Iraqi forces seized the oil-rich city on Monday
- Following the seizure, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the Kurdish referendum "is finished and has become a thing of the past"
- The news comes just weeks after a Kurdish referendum on independence in which Kurds backed secession
Iraqi officials have issued an arrest warrant for Kurdish Vice President Kosrat Rasul after the politician described troops in Kirkuk as invaders.
Iraqi State TV reported that Rasul would be charged with article 226 of the Iraqi penal code for inciting violence against Iraqi forces.
Rsaul faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted.
Scores of Kurdish troops were killed when Iraqi forces seized the oil-rich city on Monday.
Rasul compared the Iraqi military operation in Kirkuk by Iraq to the Kurdish genocide.
Iraqi forces took control of the last two oilfields in the vicinity of Kirkuk, a city of 1 million people.
- Iraq Captures Military Base in Kirkuk
700,000 Still Displaced from Former ISIS Stronghold in Mosul, NGO Report
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday the referendum "is finished and has become a thing of the past".
Earlier this week, Abadi ordered his troops on Monday to raise the Iraqi flag across Kurdish-held territory outside the autonomous region itself.
The news comes just weeks after a Kurdish referendum on independence in which Kurds backed secession.
Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has released a statement calling for peace and pledging to keep working towards independence.
"The loud voices you raised for the independence of Kurdistan, which you sent to all nations and world countries, will not be wasted now or ever," he said.
