KRG delegation arrive in Baghdad for talks on disputes and bilateral coordination

 

A high-level meeting between the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani and his Iraqi counterpart, Haidar al-Abadi, in Baghdad on Sunday ended with an agreement to form a joint committee to continue talks between both sides to seek a solution for their budgetary dispute and discussed the unpaid Peshmerga funds as part of Iraq’s defence system as well as Kurdistan’s share of the federal health budget.

According to correspondents in Baghdad, the Kurdish delegation did not succeed in securing any funding for the Peshmerga as the Iraqi prime minister claimed that his government is only able to pay its own employees for another four months at the present time.

The planned joint committee however is to go ahead and meet fortnightly to discuss disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.

Both sides are expected to continue talks about the long-anticipated offensive for liberating Mosul in which Kurdish forces are expected to play a key role from the northern frontiers.

Posting on social media, Mr Abadi said that since the KRG and Iraqi central government are currently fighting the same enemy, they must improve bilateral coordination to overcome the crisis. He insists that Erbil and Baghdad should have a comprehensive and bilateral plan in which “the country’s interests are maintained.”

Concerning the Kurdish Peshmerga forces who have played an affective role in the war against the Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq, Mr Abadi said that the cooperation between Peshmerga and other Iraqi forces should grow further until Mosul and other occupied areas are liberated from IS control.