President Barzani hails Baghdad-Erbil salary deal, says oil halt cost Iraq $7 billion
Shafaq News/The president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, on Sunday praised a deal between the regional and federal governments on civil servant salaries, saying it was a "very good" start to resolving a long-standing disputes between Baghdad and Erbil.
"During our visit to Baghdad, we held several meetings with the prime minister, the State Administration Coalition and the Coordination Framework," Barzani told reporters earlier today.
"Our meetings were generally about the future relations between the Kurdistan region and Baghdad, and we tried to establish a mechanism so that we can continue to hold these meetings in one place to discuss current problems and find solutions."
Barzani said the issue of salaries was a key issue for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and that the agreement reached between the KRG prime minister and the federal prime minister was "a very good start".
"We hope it will continue," he said.
Barzani said the issue of oil exports had also been discussed.
"As the Kurdistan region, we believe that oil exports should be resumed, because this issue has caused great harm to Iraq and the Kurdistan region," he said."So far, the Iraqi budget has lost more than $7 billion."
Barzani said that more delegations from the KRG would need to visit Baghdad to discuss the issue further.
"We hope to reach a result," he said.
On the issue of holding elections in the Kurdistan region, Barzani said, "As the president of the Kurdistan region, it is my responsibility to set a date for the elections. There is no change in this issue."
"Of course, this is a political issue and all political parties should discuss it and reach an understanding from these discussions," he added.
Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Saturday and took part in meetings with the Shiite Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition.
He stressed the Kurdistan Region's serious desire to resolve the outstanding issues with the federal government in accordance with the provisions of the Iraqi constitution.
