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Kurds negotiate autonomous rule
IRAQI President Jalal Talabani and Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani on Saturday signed an agreement that paves the way for a single administration to run their autonomous northern region.Until now Mr Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party was solely responsible for running Arbil and Dohuk, while Mr Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ran Sulaimaniyah province. However the agreement does not merge the PUK's and KDP's departments of interior, finance, justice or peshmerga forces. "This is an important development which will protect Kurdistan which has become a solid base for democracy, unity and national accord," Mr Talabani said. Mr Barzani said a sole administration would "help reclaim other parts of Kurdistan," in a reference to the ethnically mixed oil-hub of Kirkuk that Kurds consider their own, located just south of their autonomous region. Since 1998, rivalries between the two formerly warring Kurdish factions have prevented repeated attempts to set up a joint administration. The move, originally announced on January 7, was approved by the Kurdish regional parliament after an extraordinary session in Arbil. The naming of an executive chief was put off until next week. The two parties also decided that a Kurdistan vice president to act as Mr Barzani's deputy should come from the PUK. US ambassador to Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad was among the diplomats who attended the parliamentary session. Posted by: tipper 2006-01-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=140442 |