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| Iraq | |
| Iraqs PM visits Kurdistan to tackle disputes | |
| 2009-08-03 | |
He will hold talks with regional president Massud Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, amid U.S. pressure for the central government and Kurdish authorities to settle their differences before American troops leave Iraq in 2011. It is Maliki's first trip to the region since becoming prime minister of Iraq's first permanent post-invasion government in 2006. It comes hot on the heels of Kurdish parliamentary and presidential elections that returned Barzani to power, and less than six months before general elections across the country in January. His talks with Talabani and Barzani will be held at Dukan, a summer resort 75 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Sulaimaniya, Kurdistan's second-biggest city. "This visit is a very positive point and opens dialogue between the two (parties) in order to solve the problems between the central government and Kurdistan," senior Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Hmmm. I am skeptical, Maliki seems to have improved his standing among Sunnis in part by distancing from the Kurds and standing as an Arab nationalist (not in the Baathist pan-arab sense, but at least in the parochial Iraqi anti-Kurdish sense) I sure hope he and Barzani can do a deal though. |
| Posted by: liberal hawk 2009-08-03 12:44 |