Parl. speaker criticizes UN envoy over Kurdish seats

BAGHDAD /Iraqi News The speaker of the Parliament in the Kurdistan region has criticized the special representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq (SRSG) over the allocation of seats for the Kurds in the new Iraqi Parliament. In a statement released by his office and received by Iraqi News, Speaker Kamal Karkouki referred to talks held in Baghdad in January 2009 between a delegation from the Kurdish Parliament and Kurdish lawmakers from the Iraqi Parliament on the one hand and a UN delegation on the other. The talks, attended by the UN envoy, Ad Melkert, and the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, Christopher Hill, tackled the amended law on the parliamentary elections and the number of seats that should be allocated for the Kurds, according to the statement. Melkert then announced that Iraqi parties had agreed to allocate 43 seats for the Kurds, including two compensation seats. On Monday (March 29), Melkert said that the Kurdistan region will have 43 seats in the Parliament, including one seat for the Kurdistan Alliance (KA). SS (P)/SR 1