“He [Talabani] said that we are pressured, there are illegal things going on in the Kurdistan Region and we have been pressured to put an end to it,” Sirwan Mohammed, a Sulaimani businessman told Rudaw’s Shahyan Tahseen on Wednesday about what was said in the meeting.
Talabani reportedly gave the US assurances that he would address the issue. “Qubad Talabani ensured that they will be making big changes in Sulaimani’s market and put an end to smuggling,” an anonymous source with knowledge of what took place in the meeting told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Qubad Talabani’s spokesperson Samir Hawrami confirmed to Rudaw English that the US has raised the issue with the KRG, asking Erbil to put a stop to the smuggling. It has been stopped, he added.
Rudaw English contacted the US Treasury for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Kurdish leaders have met and spoken with US Treasury officials several times over the years, discussing ISIS finances, trade with Iran, and US investment in the Kurdistan Region.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the ruling party in Sulaimani and the party of Qubad Talabani, is going through a shakeup this week. Lahur Talabany, co-president of the party, appears to have been forced out. His co-chair and cousin Bafel Talabani, who is Qubad’s brother, is now referred to as president of the PUK by official party media. And the brothers replaced the heads of the PUK’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units with persons loyal to Bafel Talabani.
On Thursday, Bafel Talabani said the changes were to end abuse of party positions for personal gain, including “smuggling, extortion, threats, and spying.”
Hawrami told Rudaw English that “as of now, nothing is apparent” regarding whether the security changes in Sulaimani had anything to do with the US Treasury Department’s pressure.
Earlier this year, the KRG’s Interior and Peshmerga ministries were tasked with forming a joint force to combat smuggling and illegal movement across the borders. In Iraq, corruption is rife at the borders with billions of dollars being siphoned away from state coffers and into the pockets of armed groups and political parties.
