Politics

Iraqi caretaker PM to make first visit to Kurdistan since taking office

Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi, will visit the Kurdistan Region on Saturday to hold talks with senior Kurdish officials on a range of issues following a series of military exchanges between the US and Iran on Iraqi soil that have sparked fears of an all-out war between the two.

Kurdistan 24 2020/01/11 05:34

middle east Iraq Baghdad Kurdistan Erbil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi, will visit the Kurdistan Region on Saturday to hold talks with senior Kurdish officials on a range of issues following a series of military exchanges between the US and Iran on Iraqi soil that have sparked fears of all-out war.

This would mark Abdul Mahdi’s first official visit to the Kurdistan Region since he took office as prime minister in October 2018. It comes at a time of ongoing unrest due to anti-government protests and heightened tensions—which appear to have been at least temporarily relieved to some degree—following last week's US assassination of prominent Iranian general Qasim Soleimani and an Iraqi militia commander.

An informed source told Kurdistan 24 Abdul Mahdi would arrive on Saturday at the head of a high-ranking delegation and will hold talks with the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

The source pointed out that the talks will focus on the latest developments in Iraq and the escalation of tensions in the region in general.

In late December, a few days after the US launched a strike on five bases of Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militias on both sides of the Iraqi–Syrian border, PMF militiamen and their supporters attacked the US embassy in Baghdad.

Washington responded by assassinating leading Iranian military commander Qasim Soleimani and a senior PMF official as their convoy left Baghdad International Airport.

Late Tuesday night, Iran targetted airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region housing US and coalition forces in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing, resulting in condemnation from top Iraqi leaders who, a few days earlier, had come out strongly against the United States for its military actions in Iraq.

Last week, Abdul Mahdi phoned Masoud Barzani and discussed with him the latest developments in Iraq. Afterward, the KDP chief urged all sides to “seek a logical and rational approach to the issues at hand and not to base their decision on emotions and political opportunism.”

Editing by John J. Catherine