title: U.S. special envoy encouraged that Kurds could embrace plan to delay referendum
text: ERBIL (Reuters) - Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, on Thursday said he was encouraged that the Iraqi Kurdish leadership could embrace a plan to delay an  independence referendum. Moving forward with the referendum on Sept. 25 would be a  risky  move for Iraq s autonomous Kurdish region because there was no international support for it at this moment, McGurk said in a news conference.  