MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Speaker of Iraq's parliament Salim Jabouri is headed to the city of Erbil to meet with the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani, media reported Sunday.
On Thursday, Jabouri told Sputnik that he was likely to meet with leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan to discuss the current crisis between Baghdad and the autonomous region.
The meeting scheduled between Barzani and Jabouri was reported by the Rudaw broadcaster.
The day before Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani and Iraqi Vice Presidents Osama Nujaify and Ayad Allawi agreed to de-escalate the tensions over the recent Kurdish autonomy independence referendum. The parties decided Saturday to engage in a dialogue and hold meetings between Iraqi political parties in the near future.
On September 25, more than 90 percent of voters taking part in the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan backed the region's independence from Baghdad. Iraqi authorities declared the referendum illegal, and stressed that they would not engage in negotiations with the local authorities following the announcement of the vote's results, while the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority suspended all international flights to and from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports.
