Northern Iraq leader meets US special envoy

By Idris Okuducu

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) - The president of northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) met the U.S. special presidential envoy for global coalition to defeat ISIS (Daesh) on Sunday.

Masoud Barzani received Brett McGurk in Erbil, northern Iraq, according to a statement released from the KRG presidency office.

The statement said McGurk thanked Barzani for his forces' support in the Raqqah operation.

Barzani also told McGurk the planned independence referendum Sept. 25 would involve Baghdad every step of the way, the statement added.

In March, Barzani held a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Erbil during which he announced that within a short period of time a referendum would be held to decide the fate of the region.

McGurk also met with the Iraqi premier Haidar al-Abadi on Saturday as part of his Iraq visit.