Erbil, Baghdad ready to resolve disputes: Iraqi ambassador

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Authorities in Baghdad and Erbil have shown resolve in putting an end to their disputes through peaceful discussions, an Iraqi official said on Sunday.

In an interview with TASS, Russia’s largest news agency, Iraq’s Ambassador to Russia Haidar Mansour Hadi suggested the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were making real progress in reaching a “mutually acceptable solution” to current tensions.

“I think the issue is on its way to be resolved,” Hadi said, adding that Iraq’s Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, had held two meetings in Baghdad and on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos in the past month.

“They discussed most of the issues, and I think there is an understanding by both sides,” Hadi stated. “Every issue has to be resolved within the constitution. I think there is a will for them to be resolved in accordance with the constitution.”

The Iraqi official claimed that steps taken by the Federal Government of Iraq against the Kurdistan Region in response to the independence referendum held on Sep. 25, including an international flight ban to the region’s airports, were “temporary.”

“They will be temporary measures until we find a solution,” he said. “I think they are going positively so soon everything will be back to normal in Kurdistan.”

Hadi also revealed that the focus of the negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad now revolved around the joint management of the Kurdistan Region, such as oil exports, border crossings, and the airports.

“These measures are taken to preserve the integrity of Iraq until we reach an understanding.”

A Kurdish delegation, led by Prime Minister Barzani, met with world leaders in Davos last week where he lobbied for a peaceful resolution to disputes between the Iraqi federal government and the KRG.

In a statement to Kurdistan 24, Barzani stated that the meetings were “productive” and an “important exchange of opinions with world leaders.”

He added that the KRG would host additional meetings with Baghdad to resolve certain issues before the elections, namely salaries to the KRG employees and the lifting of the international flight ban on the Kurdistan Region’s airports imposed after the Sep. 25 referendum on independence.