Iraqi VP Maliki sends condolences for KRG PM Barzani’s late brother

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The influential Iraqi vice president and former prime minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki called the Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday to express his condolences on the passing of his twin brother Dilovan Barzani.

“Mr. Maliki, today, Sunday, April 8, in a telephone call expressed his condolences and sympathies for the untimely passing of the deceased to Mr. Nechirvan Barzani and the Barzani family and hoped this would be his last tragedy and sadness,” reads a statement published by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
 
The Kurdish PM thanked Maliki for the telephone call.

Maliki had sent representatives to accompany Iraqi President Fuad Masum, who is visiting the Kurdistan Region to participate in the funeral procession. 

Dilovan Idris Barzani, 51, died of a heart attack in Erbil on Monday.

Maliki was Iraqi Prime Minister when Baghdad cut off the KRG’s share of the budget in 2014. He has repeatedly called for the formation of a majoritarian government, something alarming to the KRG.