Masum warns Abadi against rejecting dialogue with Erbil
The President of the Republic Fuad Masum.
In an interview with the Kurdish-owned network, Masum said, “his efforts are ongoing to start the dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil.”
He also said that he delivered two messages to the Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani as well as Abadi but he did not receive response.
“All political parties in Baghdad were against the referendum, however, after the Federal Court made its verdict, everyone calls for dialogue,” Masum said.
“Rejecting the dialogue will have a huge impact that Abadi will not be able to handle due to local and international pressures,” Masum added.
On Saturday, Presidential adviser Amir al-Kinani, revealed details of Masum’s initiative to settle the disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, saying that the initiative was based on the approval of vice-presidents Nuri al-Maliki and Iyad Allawi as well as Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri.
The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper said each of Baghdad and Erbil will launch negotiations to be sponsored by Masum and western diplomats to tackle three issues. Iraqi sources were quoted as saying that the dialogue between the federal government and Kurdish officials will start by the beginning of the new year under United Nations sponsorship
Since Kurdistan held its independence referendum on September 25, Baghdad had declared intentions to retake areas disputed on with Erbil.