ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani is set to visit Baghdad on Wednesday, marking his first visit to the Iraqi capital in six years, where he will hold meetings with senior Iraqi officials and meet with pro-Iran Coordination Framework parties.
“President Masoud Barzani’s visit is very important. He will attend the Coordination Framework meeting at the house of Mr. Ammar al-Hakim as a high-level guest,” Mohammed Hussam Husseini, head of relations and politburo member of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement, within the Coordination Framework, told Rudaw.
Barzani also will meet with senior Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to discuss several topics including Erbil-Baghdad issues, according to Husseini, who said the meetings will focus on “laying a solid foundation for the future of Iraq.”
An anonymous source told Rudaw that Barzani’s meetings with Iraqi officials are aimed at finding appropriate solutions to resolve pending issues between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
As part of his visit, he will meet with head of Fatih Alliance Hadi al-Amiri, former premier and the leader of the State of Law Coalition Nouri al-Maliki, former premier and the leader of the Victory Party Haider al-Abadi and other political leaders.
“Holding a personality like Mr. Masoud Barzani will give more importance to the meeting and Iraq’s internal affairs, and a number of foreign and regional issues will be discussed,” Husseini added.
Barzani’s last visit to Baghdad was in Nov. 2018. He was welcomed by Mohammed al-Halbousi, then-speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Amiri, and a number of ministers and officials at Baghdad International Airport.
