Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi to visit Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is visiting the Kurdistan Region on Monday for talks with President Massoud Barzani and other officials.

The main focus of the visit will be on Erbil-Baghdad relations, as well as developments in the region, the prime minister’s media office said.

“Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi will head to Erbil and visit Kurdish President Barzani to strengthen ties with the region, discuss refugee problems and Erbil-Baghdad relations,” Saeed Hadisi, the spokesman for Abadi’s office, told Rudaw.

Erbil and Baghdad have a number of urgent issues to work out. They include an oil agreement, payments to the regional government from national coffers and issues related to the Kurdish Peshmerga army.