Kurd region delegation to visit Baghdad before poll

By Amir al-Saadi

BAGHDAD

A high-level delegation from northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) will visit the Iraqi capital within the next 48 hours to discuss outstanding differences between Baghdad and Erbil, the KRG’s administrative capital.

According to a Wednesday statement released by the office of Iraqi President Fuad Masum, KRG President Masoud Barzani has agreed to send a high-level KRG delegation to Baghdad on Thursday or Friday.

The move comes only days before next week’s controversial referendum on Kurdish regional independence.

Earlier Wednesday, Masum and Barzani met in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah where they discussed regional developments and the upcoming poll.

“Both men stressed the need for constructive dialogue to resolve outstanding points of contention [between Baghdad and Erbil],” read the statement from Masum’s office.

“With this in mind, they decided to dispatch a high-level [KRG] delegation to Baghdad within the next two days,” the statement added.

Masum arrived in Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday morning where he urged KRG officials to postpone next week’s poll and resolve outstanding differences between the two sides through dialogue.

Last month, a high-level KRG delegation visited Baghdad where delegation members held two weeks of talks with Iraqi officials. Those talks, however, failed to yield any breakthroughs.

Next week’s referendum will see residents of KRG-controlled areas of northern Iraq vote on whether or not to declare formal independence from Baghdad.

Along with the Iraqi government, Turkey, the U.S., Iran and the UN all oppose the planned poll, which they say will distract from the fight against Daesh and further destabilize the region.

Baghdad has even threatened to intervene militarily if next week’s referendum results in violence.

Barzani, meanwhile, has said that a “yes” vote would not initiate an automatic declaration of independence but only lead to further negotiations with Baghdad.