Kurdistan PM Masrour Barzani (L) shakes hands with Iraqi president Barham Salih, Baghdad, July 16, 2019. Photo: Iraqi presidency
BAGHDAD,— A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) led by the Prime Minister Masrour Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for meetings with senior Iraqi federal officials, the first in his new capacity.
Masrour Barzani met with Iraqi President, Barham Salih, to discuss issues between Erbil and Baghdad to be resolved on the basis of the Iraqi Constitution.
Barzani highlighted the need to intensify efforts for a proper dialogue and resort to the constitution to find a common ground to improve bilateral relations, according to the press office of the Iraqi President.
The KRG delegation includes Deputy Prime Minister, Qubad Talabani, Minister of Justice, Firsat Ahmed, Interior Minister, Rebar Ahmed, Minister of Peshmerga, Shorish Ismael, Minister of Finance and Economy, Awat Sheikh-Janab, and Chief of Staff to the Kurdistan Region Presidency, Fawzi Hariri.
Masrour Barzani also met with Iraqi Prime Minister of Iraq Adil Abdul-Mahdi in Baghdad and Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, and touched upon improving relations between the two governments and resolving outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad.
Among the issues likely discussed are oil transfers, the disputed areas and security concerns.
Parliamentarians in Baghdad are growing increasingly frustrated with Erbil’s refusal to hand over the 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day as required under the 2019 federal budget law. The KRG has said that it first must meet preexisting obligations and transfers to the federal government will likely not occur until next year.
Similarly, Baghdad and Erbil have long been at loggerheads over the disputed areas, a zone of territory that includes Kirkuk claimed by both governments and home to a mix of ethnic groups. While there are procedures for resolving their status, most importantly Article 140 of the 2005 constitution, their implementation has been long delayed.
During the war against Islamic State, Kurdish forces controlled much of the disputed areas, but were pushed out by the Iraqi Army and the Hashd al-Shaabi in an operation launched in response to the controversial and ill-fated Kurdish independence referendum in 2017 which was orchestrated by Massoud Barzani and his son Masrour. Since then, Kurdish parties have eyed a political return in Kirkuk and sought to redeploy the Kurdish Peshmerga militias to the broader zone.
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