US Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing meets senior Kurdish leaders
The US Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Marshall Billingslea, met with senior Kurdistan Region officials on Wednesday to discuss cooperation to prevent and dry financial sources aiding terrorist organizations in the region.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Marshall Billingslea, met with senior Kurdistan Region officials on Wednesday to discuss cooperation to prevent and dry financial sources aiding terrorist organizations in the region.
Billingslea met separately with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani as well as Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in Erbil.
During his meeting with the Kurdish president, the two sides discussed the complete elimination of the so-called Islamic State, and other terrorist groups and extremist ideologies in the region, a statement on President Barzani’s press office read.
“They stressed that in order to completely eradicate ISIS extremist and terrorist ideologies, the financial resources of ISIS should be eliminated and their financial activities must be blocked,” the statement added.
President Barzani and Billingslea also discussed the relationship between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq, “foreign investment opportunities, and developments in the energy and banking sectors in Kurdistan and Iraq.”
In a separate meeting, Billingslea met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. US Consul-General in Erbil Steven Fagin was also present.
“The Prime Minister and the US officials discussed the government’s efforts to grow and diversify the Kurdistan Region’s economy,” a statement on the KRG’s website read.
“The Assistant Secretary expressed support for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s modernizing reforms and welcomed the progress it had already made,” the statement added.
In turn, Prime Minister Barzani urged Billingslea “to support the new government’s efforts to develop the Kurdistan Region’s financial sector and to connect its banks to international markets.”
On Erbil-Baghdad relations, Prime Minister Barzani updated the US officials on the KRG’s “ongoing dialogue” with the Iraqi government, affirming the new Kurdish government’s “commitment to establishing a peaceful and stable relationship with Baghdad, underpinned by the Kurdistan Region’s rights under the constitution.”
I was pleased to see U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary Marshall Bilingslea — I reaffirmed KRG’s already strong cooperation to aggressively identify and disrupt global terrorism-related financial networks and activities, including ISIS- mb. pic.twitter.com/xOv6laAvsc
— Masrour Barzani (@masrour_barzani) September 25, 2019
Billingslea’s visit was a rare one, but the Kurdish leadership has in the past welcomed the opportunity to coordinate with the US Treasury Department in combatting terrorism financing.
The meetings also come as Islamic State remnants continue to launch insurgency attacks in Iraq despite their military defeat which the federal government declared in late 2017.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany