KRG delegation in Baghdad Sunday to discuss ending 'outstanding issues'

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A high-ranking delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will leave for Baghdad on Sunday to discuss solutions to the outstanding financial disputes between the KRG and the federal government of Iraq.

Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani will head the team. The visit follows technical consultations another KRG delegation, including top officials from the autonomous region's planning and finance ministries, held in Baghdad recently.

These talks focused on the financial entitlements of the Kurdistan Region's government employees and confirming them in Iraq's draft 2021 budget law.

The head of Talabani's media office, Samir Hawrami, confirmed to Kurdistan 24 that the latest delegation would discuss the same issues with senior Iraqi officials, i.e., the federal budget law.

On Wednesday, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani went to Baghdad, accompanied by another delegation, in a visit that coincided with that of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Nechirvan Barzani held a series of separate talks with Macron and senior Iraqi officials, shedding light on Erbil-Baghdad relations and ways to resolve longstanding disputes constitutionally.

Read More: From Baghdad, Macron promises continued French support for Kurdistan Region

There have been disagreements between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government over the general annual budget since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

The differences and outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad are based on the region's share of the financial budget, the entitlements of the Peshmerga forces, the export of oil, and the disputed areas covered by article 140 of the Iraqi constitution.

During the US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue, the second round of which was held in August, Washington pushed Baghdad to settle its differences with Erbil.

“I urged Baghdad to clinch a budget deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government,” said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a joint press briefing in Washington alongside Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein. Hussein is Kurdish and a former senior KRG official.

Read More: The US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue: Good news for the Kurdistan Region

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, stated in a previous interview with the Iraqi and Arab media that Baghdad sends less than 5 percent of the federal budget to the region.

Read More: Kurdistan Region prime minister speaks to Iraqi and international Arab media

"The best solution for each party to receive its due financial rights is to conduct a census in order to know how many residents of the Kurdistan Region and all the components of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and Christians, so we can determine what the region is entitled to, according to the percentage of the population out of the total revenues of the federal government," the premier said.

Editing by Khrush Najari