Archive - KURDISH BLOG

The Kurdish high profile delegation have been able to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government concerning the existence of Peshmarga forces and Iraqi forces in Khanaqeen and the other areas of Diyala province.

London based Sharq al Awsat newspaper on Tuesday reported from Iraqi foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, member of the delegation, that the two sides had reached an agreement on keeping the Iraqi federal forces out of Khanaqeen and having collaboration between the Iraqi and Kurdish sides for any military actions in the area.
Tensions raised between the Iraqi government and Kurdistan region government when the Iraqi forces tried to break into the already secure town of Khanaqeen under the pretext of chasing the terrorists of al Qaeda.
Kurdish leadership and the people of the area were against Iraqi government decision, but Baghdad remained persistent until a Kurdish delegation visited Baghdad and held talks with al Maliki to end the problems.
“The mission of the delegation was to review all the long term issues and we are ready to open them up”, Zebari told the paper, without mentioning a specific time table set for reaching an agreement over the issues, which been periodically raised since the fall of former dictator regime.
“The goal of sending the delegation to Baghdad was to enclose the tensions raised in Khanaqeen and solve the other problems” he added

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government spokesman revealed that the Kurdish delegation had returned to Kurdistan region to discuss the attitude of Iraqi government over the recent developments, pointing out that the second round of the meetings led the two sides to a common understanding concerning the articles of constitution and scope of Prime Minister as top commander of Iraqi armed forces to move military units across the country.
In an interview with al Hurra channel, government spokesman Ali al Dabagh said KRG and Baghdad attempted to choose dialogue as the main option and problems solved according to the constitution and the political agreements among the parties in the government.
“The two sides stressed on dialogue for solving the problems, but there is one fact, which that the government should impose its authority on all the Iraqi land, except Kurdistan region that has a special status.”
He also expected the two sides to continue in their talks until reaching a constitutional agreement that would grant the interests of all.
Kurdish leadership is highly sensitive about the existence of Iraqi forces in Khanaqeen, because it’s part of the disputed territories that include the implementation of article 140, and that Kurdistan expects the areas to return to Kurdistan territory.

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Bolivia's visiting left-wing President Evo Morales on Monday their two nations are natural allies and would boost energy ties, state media reported.

"The two revolutionary nations and the governments of Iran and Bolivia are natural allies and will boost their relations in the fields of commerce, industry, agriculture, gas, oil and politics," he told Morales on the first day of a two-day trip to Tehran.

"We are striding on a common path towards a brighter future and will remain by each other's side and supportive of one another under any circumstances," Ahmadinejad said, quoted by the state-run television news website.

The website also quoted Morales, whose country sits on South America's second largest gas reserves, as saying he supports Ahmadinejad.

"I support and praise Mr Ahmadinejad's stance against imperialism and defending the rights of the Iranian people," he said. "I also hail Iranian progress in industry and agriculture."

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also met with Morales and told him that he expected "resistance against arrogant powers" to pay off.

"The awakening of the South American nations who are seeking their rights is an auspicious event which certainly will not make (big) powers happy," Khamenei told Morales, according to the state-run television news website.

"The arrogant powers will put pressure on you since they are against this spirit, but resistance against these pressures and reliance on God will result in victory," Khamenei added.

Morales, who in 2006 became the first indigenous leader of Bolivia, left La Paz on Friday on a trip to Libya and Iran aimed at reinforcing new diplomatic ties made with the two countries.

Energy-rich La Paz and Tehran established relations in September 2007 when Ahmadinejad made an official trip to Bolivia to sign trade and energy accords. Their growing ties have raised concerns in Washington.

In La Paz, Ahmadinejad and Morales signed a joint statement recognising "the rights of developing nations to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."

The United States and its European allies fear that Iran is seeking to build an atomic bomb under the guise of its civilian nuclear programme, a charge that Tehran vehemently denies.

Within Latin America, Bolivia has aligned itself with Venezuela and Cuba, and rejects US influence in the region.

At the time of the La Paz visit, Iran's top Latin America diplomat, Safar Ali Eslamian, denied his country was forming an anti-US bloc with Venezuela and Bolivia, two countries that support Tehran's nuclear programme.

Bolivia opened diplomatic tiew with Libya in August and Morales visited the North African nation on the weekend.