“Al-Sharq al-Awsat” newspaper said in a report briefed by " Shafaq News " , that “ U.S. senators John McCain and Robert Menendez intend to put an end to this category , which " outdated ."
This classification by Washington in 2001 was on the basis of the armed conflict led by the two parties against Saddam Hussein's regime in the nineties of the last century .
France press news agency quoted McCain as saying that the time has come to stop treating PUK and KDP as “terrorists " , pointing out that this classification " betray our friends and allies of the Kurds , who were a stabilizing force in the region for years ."
A statement on Iraqi Kurdistan representation site in Washington said that Barzani refuses to go to Washington as long as the two parties are still officially classified as “terrorist organizations “.
The last visit to Washington was at April 2012, where he met President Barack Obama in the White House.
In February last year, an official in the U.S. government expressed his support for voting on the bill to cancel this classification.
Bert Macgork , official of Iraq and Iran at the State Department said in a hearing in the parliament that the Kurdish people and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party are among the closest friends in the region for decades , stressing the need to be removed from this list as soon as possible .
President of the Kurdistan Region was scheduled to visit Washington late last January at the invitation of the U.S. administration but decided to postpone it because of the inclusion of Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Washington 's list of " terrorist organizations”.
Kurdish sources said at the time that the U.S. administration had been in contact with Barzani in order to resolve this issue , pointing specifically the Vice President , Joe Biden , who enjoys friendly relations with powerful politicians Kurds since he was a member of the U.S. Congress .
The sources quoted the U.S. side to cancel the names of the two parties from the list of "terrorism" , however, the Congress is responsible for it and must take this decision .
The sources said that Barzani sent a letter to President Obama in which he said that , " I do not care if I became embarrassed in front of you , it is important not ashamed and embarrassed in front of my people."
It is noteworthy that the U.S. blacklist consists of three levels and included the Kurdish parties in the third level , which includes political parties and movements fighting their governments .