BAGHDAD: The leader of Iraq`s Kurds set the ball rolling on Thursday for a referendum on their long-held dream of independence, in another setback for international efforts to unite the country`s politicians against a militant offensive.

Prime Minister Nuri alMaliki broadened an amnesty offer aimed at undercutting support for Islamists, whose onslaught overran areas ofthe country and who proclaimed a caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.Massud Barzani told the autonomous Kurdish region`s parliament that it should make `preparations to begin to organise a referendum on the right of self-determination`. `It will strengthen our position and will be a powerful weapon in our hands,` he said.

The prospect of an independent state is made more attractive by what the Kurds say is Baghdad`s unwillingness to resolve the issue of disputed territory and its late and insufficient budget payments to the region this year.

Barzani said Kurdish forces would not withdraw from northern territory they occupied after federal security forces withdrew at the beginning of the offensive, giving them control ofareas they wanted to absorb over Baghdad`s strong objections.

Maliki rejected that on Wednesday, saying `no one has the right to exploit the events that took place to impose a fait accompli` and that the Kurds` steps towards self-determination had no constitutionalgrounding.

STALEMATE: On the ground, Iraqi forces were struggling to break a stalemate with militants. After wilting in the initial onslaught, they have since performed better but with limited offensive success.

A police lieutenant colonel said security forces clashed on Thursday with militants near Tikrit, the northern hometown of Saddam Hussein they have been unsuccessfully fighting toretake for more than a week.

Salaheddin provincial Governor Ahmed Abdullah Juburi said on Wednesday security forces were `advancing slowly because all of the houses and burned vehicles (en route to Tikrit) have been rigged with explosives, and militants have deployed lots of roadside bombs and car bombs. `It would be days before security forces could make a concerted push into the city, the capital of Salaheddin province, he said.

West of the city, a roadside bomb killed one Kurdish peshmerga fighter on Thursday and wounded four others.

Maliki`s security spokesman also said loyalists had clashed with militants south of Baghdad.The cost of the conflict has been high for Iraq`s forces.

Nearly 900 security personnel were among 2,400 people killed in June, the highest figure in years, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Washington has contacted Iraqi players and widened efforts to convince key regional leaders to help resolve the political chaos in Iraq.

President Barack Obama called Saudi Arabia`s King Abdullah and Vice President Joe Biden talked to former Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a prominent Sunni leader.

The White House said Biden and Nujaifi agreed on the importance of `moving expeditiously to form a new government capable of uniting the country`.-AFP