SULAIMANI (ESTA) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States remains supportive of media freedom in Iraq in a phone call with Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
Pompeo spoke by phone with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) premier on Tuesday.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that Pompeo and Barzani discussed regional security challenges, de-escalation at the border between the Kurdistan and Syria, and the need for continued, close cooperation between Coalition forces, United States, Baghdad and Erbil.
Pompeo encourages the KRG and federal government to remain committed to an equitable outcome, after Erbil and Baghdad reached an agreement over the federal budget for 2021.
The KRG premier proposed that the United States and the United Nations join high-level talks between Erbil and Baghdad to help advance a constitutional settlement, a KRG statement said.
A high-level KRG delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani visited Baghdad on December 9 and continued talks with officials from the federal government to reach an agreement over the federal budget and a loan law, adopted by the Iraqi parliament without Kurds’ consent.
Talabani said in a press conference in Baghdad on Tuesday that Erbil and Baghdad had reached an agreement over the 2021 budget bill.
“A pleasure to speak with Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister @masrour_barzani and to thank him for his steadfast partnership,” Pompeo said in a tweet.
“We remain supportive of media freedom in Iraq and look forward to our continued close cooperation under the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement,” he added.
PM Barzani called on the United States to extend stipend payments to the Peshmerga forces and stressed the importance of continued USAID technical assistance.
