PM to visit Kurdistan today or tomorrow – source

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A media source from the Iraqi Council of Ministers said Premier Nouri al-Maliki will travel to Arbil, Kurdistan region’s capital city, to confer pending issues between his government and Kurdistan’s regional cabinet, while the head of Kurdistan’s Presidency Office commented that he knows nothing about the visit. “As soon he arrives in Arbil, al-Maliki will meet Massoud Barazani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan, and Nejervan Barazani, the region’s premier,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The two sides will discuss pending issues of Peshmerga (Kurdish local armed forces), oil and gas law, article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution and disputed areas, in addition to the region’s share of the federal budget,” he added. Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said that one meeting is not enough to solve all the pending issues, “but will be the key to start wider meetings in Baghdad.” For his part, Foad Hussein, head of Kurdistan’s Presidency Office, said that he knows nothing about al-Maliki’s visit to Kurdistan. MH (P)/SR 1