Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani chaired a joint meeting of the leaders of Kurdistan Region’s five main political parties and the KRG oil and gas council, which included the KRG Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as well as KRG Ministers of Natural Resources and Planning.

The meeting focused on the problems facing the Kurdistan Region, particularly the fight against ISIS terrorists, and the recently-signed Erbil-Baghdad deal on oil sales and budget share of the KRG.

At the outset of the meeting, President Barzani talked about the result of his meetings with world leaders during his participation at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. He said the whole world views the Kurdistan Region and its peshmerga forces with great admiration for standing up to the ISIS terrorists and for taking in large numbers of IDPs from other parts of Iraq.

The participants of today’s meeting issued a statement in which they paid tribute to the bravery and sacrifices of the peshmerga. They also underlined the importance of preserving Kurdish unity in the face of the current challenges facing the Region.

On the deal between Erbil and Baghdad, their statement said, “The people of Kurdistan and the regional government consider it their legitimate right, per Iraqi Constitution Articles 112 and 115 and per the 2015 Iraqi budget law, to pursue exploration and export of oil from Kurdistan. Only this will fundamentally solve the budget and payroll issues facing the people of Kurdistan. The KRG remains committed to all sections of the deal signed between Erbil and Baghdad. Baghdad must equally be committed to all section of this deal. Any technical problems can be addressed through dialogue. ”

The meeting expressed its support of the KRG and expressed its hope that the KRG would be able to resolve the budget and payroll problems.

Shafaghna- Nazem Dabbagh the representative of KRG of Iraq in Iran frankly knows Nuri Maliki the present main problem of Iraq and believes that if today Mr. Maliki goes, tomorrow Shia, Kurds and Sunni will be unified in Iraq. Although severely criticizing Maliki for not being obedient to the mutual agreements with Kurds, he knows holding referendum a typical work and Kurds’ right while emphasizing that Kurds want no separation, but prefer a confederation government. He mentioned the Kurds’ cases under dispute with Iraq government of which one is the limits of the Region of Iraq already agreed according to the article 140 of the constitutes of Iraq, another is the case of oil that the region thinks it has not completely assigned to it.

He said that Maliki government formed Iraq army with exorbitant costs but employed Ba’ath officers. He added we told him again and again not to do it but he underestimated it. We observed these officers helped ISIS in their recent attacks and betrayed the army. He rejected the claim saying that Kurds helped ISIS in the attack to Sunni areas of Iraq specially Mosul. Dabbagh went on that for ISIS attack and its occupation of a great part of the country, nowadays Iraq is divided into three sessions of Kurds, Shia and Sunni so that the commuting path from the region to Shia areas turns to footpath. Also Shia of Iraq is insisting on to find a solution to the crisis of the country and believes if Mr. Nuri Maliki goes, the agreements among Iraq tribes will be reformed. 

Shafaghna reporter in talk with Nazem Dabbagh the representative of KRG of Iraq in Iran put the reason of being powerful of ISIS in Iraq and the operation of KRG and Masoud Barzani’s recent phrases concerning the articale140 of the constitutes and Kurdistan region under discussion.

Salahadin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, (krp.org)- President Masoud Barzani received a United States military and diplomatic delegation at his office today. The U.S. delegation was headed by General Joseph Votel, the Commander of the Special Operations Command as well as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq and other U.S. defense and state officials.

During the meeting President Barzani shared his perspective on the conflict with the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and made reference to the liberated areas by the Peshmerga forces. President Barzani also took the opportunity to express his thanks to the allies' air support against the terrorists of I.S.I.S. and added that the Peshmerga forces are in need of continued support with the ultimate aim of ridding the Kurdistan Region of all I.S.I.S. terrorists.

The meeting was also attended by the Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, Mr. Masrour Barzani who spoke of some of the details of the areas under Peshmerga control including the Mosul dam.

General Votel expressed, on behalf of President Obama his continued support to the Kurdistan Region in its efforts against the terrorists and added that the U.S. will remain committed to the operation against I.S.I.S. He also commended President Barzani and the Peshmerga forces for the latest military advances.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with the commander of the United States Central Command General Lloyd Austin and the US Ambassador to Iraq Mr. Stuart Jones in Erbil today.

The President and the US general discussed the military campaign currently underway against the ISIS terrorists and the military support of the US to the peshmerga forces. President Barzani thanked the United States and other coalition countries for their military support for the peshmerga.

General Austin recognized the role of the peshmerga forces in the fight against the ISIS terrorists and reaffirmed continued US support for the peshmerga. In particular, he praised the military successes and gains made by the peshmerga forces in areas north of Mosul in recent days, attributing these victories to the able leadership and the personal involvement of President Barzani in supervising these operations.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani strongly condemned the brutal murder of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh by ISIS terrorists.

In a message addressed to Jordan’s King Abdullah, President Barzani said, “O behalf of myself and the people of Kurdistan, I express my condolences to your Majesty, the people of Jordan, and the family of Moaz al-Kasasbeh.  I condemn, in the strongest terms, this inhumane act by ISIS terrorists.  These terrorists will pay for their crimes, and their fate is defeat and annihilation.”

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani visited Munich, Germany, on Friday, to participate in the annual Munich Security Conference.

The President and an accompanying KRG delegation attended the opening ceremony of the Conference and held a number of bilateral meetings, including meeting Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, and Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In these meetings, the President shed light on the ongoing efforts by the peshmerga forces to defeat ISIS terrorists and the humanitarian situation of refugees and IDPS who fled to Kurdistan.

On the sidelines of the Conference, the President also took part in a roundtable meeting attended by a number of US and European politicians and officials. In this meeting, President Barzani talked about the fighting against ISIS and the need for more support for the peshmerga forces. He also discussed the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees and IDPs who have fled to Kurdistan in recent months and years.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi met in Munich today. Following their meeting which was held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the two leaders spoke to the media. They both said that they had a positive meeting and that they both agreed to work more closely together.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with Us Vice President Joe Biden in Munich on Sunday.

They discussed the fight against ISIS terrorists and the progress of the efforts to defeat this terror group. Mr. Biden praised the bravery and sacrifices made by the peshmerga forces in this fight and pledged more US support to Kurdistan.  

President Barzani thanked the US Vice President personally and the US government their continued support for Kurdistan.

On the same day, the President also met some members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, lead by John McCain, chairman of the committee, to discuss the fight against ISIS and the military requirements of the peshmerga forces.