Iraqi PM, Kurd region leader discuss incoming gov’t

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Monday met with Nechirvan Barzani, the head of northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), to discuss the formation of the country’s next government.

“Monday’s meeting saw a convergence of views regarding the need to draw up a government able to meet the people’s demands for economic recovery, more job opportunities, adequate public services and reconstruction,” read a statement released by al-Abadi’s office after Monday’s meeting in Baghdad.

Relations between the Iraqi government and the KRG have remained strained since last September, when the latter held an unconstitutional referendum on Kurdish regional independence.

Baghdad responded to the illegitimate poll by imposing a broad range of sanctions on the Erbil-based KRG, including a six-month ban on all international flights into and out of the Kurdish region.

In the wake of last year’s referendum, federal forces also seized control of all parts of Iraq “disputed” between Baghdad and Erbil, including the oil-rich Kirkuk province.