SULAIMANI (ESTA) — British Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey said on Monday his country is ready to help the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad reach an agreement over their outstanding issues.
Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with Hickey in Erbil on Monday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement.
The two sides discussed the latest developments in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region as well as ways to strengthen relations between the Region and Britain, the statement read.
Hickey said Britain was ready to “provide any possible assistance in order for the KRG and the federal government reach a fair and long-term agreement under the constitution,” statement cited him as saying.
Barzani said Erbil had had fulfilled its “constitutional obligations” so as to reach an agreement with the federal government, that guarantees the constitutional rights of the Region’s citizens, the KRG said.
KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi said in December that Erbil and Baghdad had reached an agreement over the 2021 federal budget bill.
The draft budget law commits the Kurdistan Region to hand over 250,000 barrels of oil per day and 50% of non-oil revenue to Baghdad in exchange for the Region’s share of the budget.
A KRG delegation led by Talabani is in Baghdad for talks with members of Iraqi parliament’s committee of finance on the Region’s share of the federal budget.
