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U.S. urges Kurdish leader re-engage with Iraqi government
WASHINGTON – Obama administration officials pressed Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Wednesday to re-engage with Baghdad as relations between leaders in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and the central government have soured.
Barzani sat down with Vice President Biden for a working lunch at the White House, and the two continued their talks into the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Barzani met with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the State Department, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped by the meeting to greet the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.
President Obama also met briefly with Barzani.
The White House meeting comes just days after the Kurds announced they were halting oil exports to the central government and as Barzani and other Iraqi politicians increasingly complain that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has moved to consolidate power with departure of U.S. forces three months ago.
On Wednesday, the Iraqi government announced it was postponing a national reconciliation meeting indefinitely that previously had been scheduled to be held today in Baghdad, further evidence that Iraq continues to be beset by factionalism.
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The political scene in Iraq has been marred by sectarian divisions, and violent security incidents — although significantly reduced from the worst days of the war — still average about 100 per week.
The relationship between al-Maliki and Barzani has been fraught since Iraqi authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Tariq al-Hashemi, the vice president and top Sunni Arab official in Iraq's government, on charges he was running death squads that targeted Iraq's Shiite population.
Al-Hashemi, who has denied the charges, fled to the self-ruled Kurdish region to avoid arrest. Al-Maliki has called on the Kurds to hand him over; al-Hashemi says the charges are politically motivated.
In recent weeks, the White House has attempted to downplay the infighting and to emphasize that the U.S. remains fully engaged in Iraq as the country transitions. Antony Blinken, the national security adviser to the vice president, noted recently that the top U.S. envoy to Baghdad, James Jeffrey, had met with al-Maliki at least nine times since the beginning of the year and that U.S. diplomats are more active than ever in Iraq.
Movements by diplomats from the Baghdad Embassy and regional consulates have increased to more than 1,200 in January 2012 — or about 40 a day — after averaging about 900 per month in the last quarter of 2011, according to Blinken.
"During the most recent political standoff, the United States remained the indispensable honest broker and the only one trusted by, and in regular communication with, all of the leading blocs," Blinken said. "Much of this engagement takes place quietly, unadvertised. But just because you don't see it and we don't say it, doesn't mean it's not happening."
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WASHINGTON – Obama administration officials pressed Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Wednesday to re-engage with Baghdad as relations between leaders in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and the central government have soured.
Barzani sat down with Vice President Biden for a working lunch at the White House, and the two continued their talks into the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Barzani met with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the State Department, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped by the meeting to greet the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.
President Obama also met briefly with Barzani.
The White House meeting comes just days after the Kurds announced they were halting oil exports to the central government and as Barzani and other Iraqi politicians increasingly complain that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has moved to consolidate power with departure of U.S. forces three months ago.
On Wednesday, the Iraqi government announced it was postponing a national reconciliation meeting indefinitely that previously had been scheduled to be held today in Baghdad, further evidence that Iraq continues to be beset by factionalism.
News from The Oval
The political scene in Iraq has been marred by sectarian divisions, and violent security incidents — although significantly reduced from the worst days of the war — still average about 100 per week.
The relationship between al-Maliki and Barzani has been fraught since Iraqi authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Tariq al-Hashemi, the vice president and top Sunni Arab official in Iraq's government, on charges he was running death squads that targeted Iraq's Shiite population.
Al-Hashemi, who has denied the charges, fled to the self-ruled Kurdish region to avoid arrest. Al-Maliki has called on the Kurds to hand him over; al-Hashemi says the charges are politically motivated.
In recent weeks, the White House has attempted to downplay the infighting and to emphasize that the U.S. remains fully engaged in Iraq as the country transitions. Antony Blinken, the national security adviser to the vice president, noted recently that the top U.S. envoy to Baghdad, James Jeffrey, had met with al-Maliki at least nine times since the beginning of the year and that U.S. diplomats are more active than ever in Iraq.
Movements by diplomats from the Baghdad Embassy and regional consulates have increased to more than 1,200 in January 2012 — or about 40 a day — after averaging about 900 per month in the last quarter of 2011, according to Blinken.
"During the most recent political standoff, the United States remained the indispensable honest broker and the only one trusted by, and in regular communication with, all of the leading blocs," Blinken said. "Much of this engagement takes place quietly, unadvertised. But just because you don't see it and we don't say it, doesn't mean it's not happening."
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