Speaker Karkuki endsLebanon visit

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: Kurdish Parliament Speaker Kamal Karkuki returned home after a 4-day visit to Lebanon.   In a press conference yesterday night, attended by IraqiNews.com, he said that “the visit came to develop relations with Arab parliaments and Iraqi neighboring countries.   “We met Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabeeh Bari who expressed readiness to build strong relations with Kurdistan parliament, exchange of visits and workshops”, he added.   Karkuk said that he met Lebanese President Michael Sulaiman who highly evaluated the situation in Kurdistan, and discussed with him opening a Lebanese consulate in Arbil.   “We extended an official invitation to President Sulaiman to visit Kurdistan”, Karkuki disclosed.   On the other hand, Karkuki met Lebanese Interior Minister and discussed with him the residence question of Kurdish and Iraqi students, who suffer from the 3-month permit.   The permit was extended to six months, liable to be extended for another year upon the approval of Iraqi embassy in Lebanon.   Speaker Karkuki visited Lebanon last Friday, accompanied by a parliamentary delegation. RM (TI)/SR 366