01:35am
Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, a member of the Kurdistan delegation for talks with authorities in Baghdad told Rudaw there was "seriousness" from both sides in the meeting on resolving the issues.
"We had a serious dialogue and our points of views became clear to one another on what they wanted or what we wanted," said Ahmed.
Asked whether the Shiite National Alliance asked for postponing referendum, he replied "certainly, they have all called for that and we have said we want to carry out our work on time."
He added, starting from next week, they will discuss the subjects of Peshmerga, budget and oil with the Shiite delegation.
He also pointed out that for resolving any issues between Erbil and Baghdad there has to be a "time frame."
He added they ought to reach an agreement with the Shiite National Alliance in two weeks.
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12:14am
Amir Khuzaai, head of the Shiite delegation said the problems were discussed and the solutions presented. He said they agreed and insisted on maintaining talks with the Kurdistan Region delegation be it in Baghdad or Erbil in accordance with the Iraqi constitution.
He added that they were close to reaching agreements in resolving issues, some legal and others constitutional.
There was understanding on many questions, he mentioned.
In the next one or two weeks, there will be more talks and meetings, he noted.
Asked whether or not they discussed the independence referendum, he said that they discussed a range of impending questions which included the referendum.
He said they would return to "their political references" from where decisions will be made.
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11:53pm
Meeting between Kurdistan referendum delegation and Shiite National Alliance ended
Following the meeting between the Kurdistan referendum delegation and the Shiite National Alliance, Rozh Nuri Shaways, head of the Kurdistan delegation said in a joint press conference with Amir Khuzaai, head of the Shiite delegation that they did not reach any final agreement on any questions, but the meetings will continue and the next round of talks will take place in Erbil in the near future.
Asked whether or not they reached any agreements with the Shiite National Alliance, Shaways replied, "in fact we did not reach any agreement [with them] on anything, because everything we talked about needs to be discussed with our superiors and we need to explain the result of this round" of the meetings.
"Decisions will be made there," Shaways noted.
He said they now know what the stance of the Shiite National Alliance is and "our stance is also clear."
He added meetings will continue as "the second round will take place in Erbil soon, God willing, and then we will understand each other more and deeper and hope to reach a more favorable outcome.”
"But before they come to Erbil, they will return to their superiors explain to them our point of view."
Shaways added the meeting was very friendly, frank and was an open dialogue.
.....
09:05
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan referendum delegation is meeting with the Shiite National Alliance in Baghdad on Sunday evening for the second time in less than a week, said a Rudaw correspondent in Baghdad.
A Shiite official from the National Alliance told Rudaw prior to the meeting that they would present a project in the meeting to discuss with the Kurdistan delegation, mainly on the impending issues between Baghdad and Erbil, including oil, Peshmerga and border-crossing revenues.
Abdullah Zubaidi in charge of the Kurdish case within the Shiite National Alliance said their project mainly includes oil disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.
Zubaidi whose faction holds most of the parliament seats and the government in Iraq, stated that the Shiite project is also for discussing Peshmerga salaries and the Peshmerga's entrance into disputed areas, also called Kurdistani by the Kurdish leadership.
The Shiite project includes border-crossing incomes and the implementation of the border-crossing custom identities. The Shiite officials are expected to stress the parallel of the Kurdistan Region's foreign policy with the central government's policy as it is mentioned in their project.
This is a second meeting being held between the Kurdistan referendum delegation and the Shiite National Alliance in less than a week.
But Viyan Dakhil, an MP and member of the Kurdish Yezidi community said, their top agenda in the meeting is to discuss the independence referendum.
Dakhil said the first point that they would discuss is the referendum as "we are heading towards the referendum because this is our natural right and we will not compromise on it."
The delegation visited Baghdad on Monday and has since met with many Iraqi officials, including PM Abadi, VP Maliki, Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri, as well as the Shiite National Alliance. The Iraqi officials have said that any step taken by the Kurdistan Region including the referendum should have constitutional backing, with Maliki suggesting that the constitution may have to be amended in order to allow the vote.
They also met with more than a dozen embassies in the Iraqi capital including those from the United States, Iran, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Baghdad has called the referendum unconstitutional and unilateral, and said it will not recognize the result. The Kurdistan Region says Iraq pushed Erbil into calling for the referendum by violating at least 50 articles of the Iraqi constitution, including Article 140 that concerns disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad, and the budget-share which was cut in early 2014.
The visiting Kurdistani negotiating team maintains that they are sticking to holding the referendum on its stated time in September.
When asked whether dispatching the delegation to Baghdad means there is a possibility to postpone the vote, Barzani ruled out any such possibility.
“Postponing is not a possibility at all,” he told the Saudi newspaper in Erbil.
Correction: an earlier version of the story erroneously quoted Zubaidi as saying that they will not discuss the Independence referendum with the Kurdish delegation.
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