Kurdistan Region PM praises outgoing UK envoys to Baghdad, Erbil

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right), meets with outgoing UK Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey, in Erbil, June 23, 2021. (Photo: KRG)
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right), meets with outgoing UK Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey, in Erbil, June 23, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, on Wednesday received the outgoing United Kingdom Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey and James Thornton, the Consul General in Erbil, also leaving his post.

Barzani wished both dignitaries “success in their future posts," and "praised their efforts in strengthening UK relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” according to a public statement released on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) official website.

It continued, stating that Hickey “renewed his country's support for the Kurdistan Region and also stressed the need to continue supporting the Peshmerga forces in confronting terrorism.”

The officials also discussed the KRG's reform project, relations between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government in Baghdad, and ongoing efforts to contain COVID-19, including the need to provide the region with additional anti-coronavirus vaccines.

Hickey assumed his role as the UK Ambassador to Iraq in September 2019.

In early June, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met with top Kurdistan Region officials in Erbil.

Read More: UK foreign secretary reaffirms commitment to Kurdistan Region in Erbil visit

“The UK is committed to its ties with the Kurdistan Region economically and militarily,” said Raab at the time. 

Editing by John J. Catherine