Barzani discusses Kurdistan Region ties with Saudi Arabia

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia on Monday. He is expected to meet members of the Kingdom’s top officials, to discuss ties between the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region and the Arab Kingdom.

Following his touring of Gulf countries, Barzani arrived in Riyadh on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, Barzani met Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in Riyadh.

After the death of former Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud on January 23, this is the first visit of Barzani to Riyadh.

On Saturday morning, the Kurdistan President departed Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, for a series of meetings in Gulf countries. His first destination was the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Barzani met Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces on Sunday, November 29th. In the meeting, the pair discussed economic ties between the Kurdistan Region and UAE and the current situation in Iraq and Syria.

Mohammed Mubarak al-Mazrouie, Under-secretary of the Crown Prince’s Court, and Juma al-Bowardi, Military Advisor to the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces were also present at the meeting.

K24 understands that Barzani’s tour in Gulf countries is to lobby greater support for the Kurdistan Region as the region struggles with the economic crisis, internally displaced people (IDP), and war with the Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq.

The Kurdistan Region currently suffers from economic and financial crisis following the blockade of the region’s budget share by the former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the beginning of 2014.

The war against jihadists is another struggle for Kurdistan as the region has not received sufficient weapons by the international coalition in the fight against extremists for more than a year, despite the heavy load of some 1.7 million IDPs that fled to the region.

During Barzani’s visit to UAE, he attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit.