US envoy in Baghdad for post-referendum talks with Iraqi officials

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Brett McGurk, US special presidential envoy to the war against ISIS, has met with the head of the ruling Shiite Iraqi National Alliance in Baghdad with the Kurdistan independence referendum topping the agenda.

 

It is the first known visit by the American envoy to Iraq since the September 25 referendum that was opposed by both Iraq and the United States, among others.

 

The two sides discussed political and security developments in Iraq and the region, “especially after the referendum of the Kurdistan Region,” according to a statement from the office of Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Shiite Alliance.

 

They reaffirmed the need to continue efforts to seek solutions to the outstanding issues between the Iraqi and Kurdistan governments in line with the “legal and constitutional framework to protect the unity of Iraq,” while emphasizing the need for “peaceful solutions.”

 

McGurk told Hakim that the United States will continue its support for Iraqi forces to liberate the remaining areas still under the control ISIS.

 

There was no immediate statement from McGurk on the meeting.

 

The meeting comes as Iraqi and Kurdish forces are in a standoff near Kirkuk, with Kurdish officials accusing the Iraqi forces of planning to attack Kirkuk and other disputed or Kurdistani areas under Peshmerga control but claimed by Baghdad. Iraq denies it wants to attack Kirkuk.

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday repeated his call for the Kurdistan Region to cancel the outcome of the referendum and said that his government stands firm on the measures it has taken following the September 25 vote to enforce federal authority across Iraq, a statement from his office read.

 

The US Departments of State and Defense are both working to prevent conflict between Iraqi and Kurdish forces. 

 

“We have got to work on this, the Secretary of State has the lead, but my forces are integrated among these forces and they are working too, to make certain we keep any potential for conflict off the table,” Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters on Friday. 

 

He urged all parties to keep focused on the war with ISIS and not “turn on each other.”

 

“We don’t want this to go to a shooting situation,” he said.