KRG delegation starts the second round of meetings with the Iraqi government

Shafaq News / A delegation from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)  that is visiting Baghdad, held talks with the federal government to resolve differences and outstanding issues between the two sides.

The first meetings were held within the second round with the Minister of Oil, Planning, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, and Advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq, a source in the delegation told Shafaq News.

The delegation of the region had held last week a round of discussions with the Iraqi government, as well as consultations with leaders and officials of Iraqi political parties on resolving the outstanding differences between Baghdad and Erbil.

The visit came days after the Iraqi government cut the salaries of employees of Kurdistan Region after it said that the region had not fulfilled its obligations in the financial budget represented by the delivery of 250 thousand barrels of oil per day to the federal government.

The agreement includes the delivery of Kurdistan Region, the amount of 250 thousand barrels per day of oil to the Federal Government in return for handing Baghdad a share of about 13 % of the budget to the region in addition to the salaries of employees and Peshmerga.

The cut in the salaries of the employees of the region sparked widespread criticism inside and outside the region, where observers considered that this decision comes in the context of political pressure coinciding with the efforts of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kazemi to form the new government.

There are pending issues between the two sides for many years, the main among them the disputed territories, how to manage oil wealth, the budget of Peshmerga forces, and others.