Saudi Arabia "ready" to mediate Erbil-Baghdad, facilitate dialogue
A Saudi Arabian envoy on Saturday offered his country up for mediation between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government of Iraq to encourage a peaceful dialogue.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A Saudi Arabian envoy on Saturday offered his country up for mediation between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government of Iraq to encourage a peaceful dialogue.
Thamer al-Sabhan, the Minister of State for Arab Gulf Affairs met with the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, in Erbil.
In the meeting, Sabhan praised the role of the Peshmerga forces in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), and emphasized the importance of developing relationships between the Kurdistan Region and Saudi Arabia, according to the Kurdistan Region's Presidency press office.
“They also expressed their readiness tp help and offered Saudi Arabia to act as a mediator in the dialogue between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad to resolve the disputes,” the press statement reads.
While praising King Salman and bilateral relations between Erbil and Riyadh, Barzani stated that the Kurdistan Region has never closed the door to negotiations to address the issues between Erbil and Baghdad.
The people of the Kurdistan Region are heading toward a historic vote on independence, scheduled on Sep. 25, where the people will voice whether they wish to remain as part of Iraq or secede and become a newly-formed independent state.
Editing by G.H. Renaud