Masoud Barzani
Spoke with US vice president
Biden. Both agreed that dialogue and peaceful means must be sought to
address Iraq's political crises. #Iraq
At the KRG website, they haven't posted anything on the meeting in English but they have a release in Arabic on the meet up which includes two photos. We'll note one.
وعن المواضيع التي تم بحثها خلال الزيارة ، قال الرئيس بارزاني: بحثنا العديد من النقاط منها المادة 140 وقانون النفط والغاز والشراكة والبيشمركة والعلاقات بين إقليم كوردستان
وبغداد وتم تشكيل لجان لمعالجة هذه الملفات وفقاً للدستور.
The press release notes that the meeting was to resolve outstanding issues and differences, that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki welcomes ZBarzani and his delegation to Baghdad at a joint-press conference Nouri and Barzani held and Barzani noted the challenges, risks and that the current crises are pregnant with problems.
Barzani declared that, on Syria, the KRG and the central government out of Baghdad are in agreement. (Which is bad news for the US government which was hoping to be able to leverage the KRG to get Nouri to agree with the White House's view of Syria.) After Barzani spoke about Syria, the release states Nouri declared that, with regards to Syria, it is an issue for the Syrian people first and not an issue which can or should be resolved by another country (he means the US).
The US Embassy in Baghdad issued the following statement:
July 7, 2013
The United States welcomes the July 7 visit of Kurdish Regional President Masoud Barzani to Baghdad and the meeting between him and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. We urge all of Iraq’s leaders to maintain a spirit of national reconciliation and unity to overcome the threat of terrorism, strengthen the country’s democratic institutions, and promote prosperity for all Iraqis.All Iraq News reports that Iraqiya MP Talal Hussein has called out the visit declaring, "We think that the political process that is based on sectarianism is going to collapse where all sides will be affected and that is why the political leaders started to unite to preserve the political process and keep their posts in Iraq." NINA notes the meeting with Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi and with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq leader Ammar al-Hakim but says nothing about the planned meeting with a delegation representing Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc.
In other political news, Alsumaria reports Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc is meeting with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq to strategize for the 2014 parliamentary elections. The outlet notes the two groups have been meeting a great deal since the April 20th provincial elections in 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
In World Cup news, AP reports that Iraq defeated South Korea today. Yonhap News Agency adds, "South Korea fell to Iraq 5-4 on penalties in the quarterfinals of the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup here on Sunday, coming up short of making its first semifinals appearance at the tournament in three decades." Barney Korkhill (Sports Mole) live blogs the match and notes, "Iraq have been a surprise package at this year's tournament having remained unbeaten against highly-fancied opposition to reach the last eight, including a 1-0 win after extra time against Paraguay in their last outing. " The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup offers:
The term '12th man' is an often-used phrase when it comes to complimenting fans, but the Iraq faithful in Kayseri gave a superb lesson to supporters around the globe into how it is done. Iraq needed every ounce of spirit to triumph on penalties against Korea Republic after conceding in the final seconds of extra time, but their fans had been filling them full of hope and pride well before kick-off. The supporters chanted the team onto the bus outside their hotel and arrived at the stadium two hours ahead of the game to build up their side. Hardly letting up through-out a match littered with setbacks for Hakeem Al Azzawi's side, the supporters can feel they played their own part in reaching the semi-finals.
Turning to today's violence, National Iraqi News Agency reports an Anbar Province bombing claimed 1 life, an armed attack to the north of Hilla killed police officer Haytham al-Nasrawi and 5 members of his family (his wife, their three children and his mother), a Mosul bombing killed 3 Iraqi soldiers and left one more injured, 1 former army officer was shot dead in Baquba, a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 police officers, a Tikrit bombing killed 1 police officer and leaving two more injured, a Tikrit home invasion left 1 person dead, and a mortar attack to the east of Baquba left three people injured. That's 15 reported dead and 6 reported injured.
I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.
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