Iraqi parliament's largest Sunni bloc supports Baghdad

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD

The largest group in the Iraqi parliament has expressed its support for the Baghdad government, according to a statement from the Prime Ministry's Press Office on Saturday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met the president and members of Iraqi parliament’s largest Sunni group, Sunni Iraqi Forces Coalition (IFC), the statement added.

Al-Abadi has expressed one more time the importance of the territorial and national integrity of Iraq, the statement read.

The authority of the federal government in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and in the disputed territories would be provided by constitution and law, al-Abadi said.

He said that the government’s stance against the KRG’s illegitimate referendum has not changed and Baghdad would continue to apply the decisions that the country has taken to achieve territorial and national integrity.

Tension has steadily mounted between Baghdad and northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) since Sept. 25, when Iraqis in KRG-controlled areas -- and in a handful of disputed areas -- voted on whether or not to declare independence.

In the immediate aftermath of last month’s illegitimate poll, Baghdad banned international flights from entering KRG-controlled areas and closed all foreign diplomatic missions based in the Kurdish region.