Secretary of State John Kerry traveled Tuesday to Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern, autonomous Kurdish region — his second day in the country where he is spearheading talks between Iraq’s leaders.
Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani has for years feuded with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Kerry is hoping that by securing support from Barzani that will force al-Maliki to cede more power to Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities, according to a report by the Associated Press — a situation that could help diffuse one of the causes behind an insurgency by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, referred to as ISIL or ISIS.
Kerry’s continuing diplomatic efforts come amid contested reports that ISIL rebels — the majority of whom are Sunnis — have taken full control of Iraq’s main oil refinery north of Baghdad. The refinery has been under siege for over a week with both militants and Iraqi forces claiming at various times to have control of the facility.
Al-Maliki has pressed the United States to help his government fight against the insurgents with the use of air strikes. So far, Washington has been reluctant to do more than deploy a few hundred military advisers and commandos to help assess the security situation as well as secure the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and other key American interests.
Kerry takes Iraq unity call to Kurdish leader
No comments:
Post a Comment