US Assistant Secretary of State: Optimistic about the situation of the Kurdistan Region

ARK News… US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, on Thursday, expressed her optimism about the situation in the Kurdistan Region, noting that there are good efforts between Erbil and Baghdad to reach a common understanding.

"The United States of America encourages Erbil and Baghdad to move forward in improving their relations," Barbara Leaf said in a press conference in response to a question by a Kurdistan 24 reporter.

She added, "I have been here for 13 years. Relations between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq have often gone through a number of difficulties and sometimes reached conflict, but on my current visit I am optimistic, so I discussed with the two parties, and the discussions were positive."

She expressed her happiness at the improvement of relations between Erbil and Baghdad, stressing that we encourage them to reach an understanding, in order to proceed in building a stronger and more stable Kurdistan Region.

Regarding the internal situation in Kurdistan, Barbara Leaf stressed the necessity of holding the Kurdistan parliamentary elections during this year and renewed the United States support for holding the elections before the end of this year.

She indicated, "We want the Sinjar Agreement to be fully implemented," noting that "there are a large number of armed groups in that region, such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and they pose a threat to the components, so the federal government must control the situation there."

Source: Kurdistan 24 translated from Arabic

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