Kurds must be involved in Iraq-US 'roadmap' talks: President Barzani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurds must be included in upcoming talks setting out future Iraq-US relations, Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani told a senior US-led coalition commander on Saturday.

Barzani made the case for inclusion at a meeting with Maj. Gen. Eric T. Hill, commander of Special Operations Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria.

"In the [anticipated] Iraq-US strategic talks during which a roadmap of future ties between Iraq and the US will be set out...President Nechirvan Barzani stressed the need for the participation of the Kurdistan Region to get involved in laying out and preparing the roadmap," read a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.

Both Iraqi and US official say mid-June's strategic talks will change the scope of US-Iraq relations, from military to economic support.

"All strategic issues between our two countries will be on the agenda, including the future presence of the United States forces in that country and how best to support an independent and sovereign Iraq," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a Washington press briefing in early April.

After their withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, US troops were invited back to the country in 2014 as part of the international coalition to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS). Following the extremist militant group's territorial defeat in Iraq in 2017, calls for a full US withdrawal grew, particularly among Iraq's powerful Shiite parties and militias.

Iraqi military bases hosting US troops have come under rocket fire in recent months, in attacks Washington has suspected were launched by pro-Iran militias.

The issue has seen Iraqi officials walk a tightrope as they try to maintain their allyship with both the US and Iran, two countries whose relationship has become increasingly strained as they tussle over Iranian nuclear ambitions.

In what Washington claims is unrelated to the spate of rocket attacks, US forces have recently withdrawn from several Iraqi bases. The transfer of control to Iraqi security forces comes as a result of successes in the campaign to defeat the ISIS and the COVID-19 pandemic, US officials say.

The Kurdistan president used Saturday's meeting to call for "continued support" from the US and its coalition partners to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in their "ongoing war on terror", stressing "the significance of a mechanism to arrange assistance and coordination between the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi federal government in combatting Daesh terrorists...as their renewed attacks pose a serious threat on the security of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region."

Despite the government declaring ISIS defeated in Iraq in December 2017, the group continues to maintain an active presence, carrying out hit-and-run attacks against security forces, abducting civilians and officials, and bombing populated areas, particularly in territories disputed by both Erbil and Baghdad. A major security vacuum exists in these areas, caused by a lack of military coordination and communication between the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army since October 2017, when Erbil-Baghdad relations hit an all-time low.

The Kurdistan Region has repeatedly accused the Iraqi government of not being willing to engage in talks for coordination between Peshmerga and Iraqi army – but Erbil is ready for "any assistance" with Baghdad on the matter, according to the readout.

Kurds must be involved in Iraq-US 'roadmap' talks: President Barzani

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