Mahmoud Othman said that Maliki would hold talks with regional president Massud Barzani, whose re-election was confirmed last week, and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

"Nuri al-Maliki is going to meet with Barzani and Talabani in Dukan," Othman said, referring to a summer resort 75 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Kurdistan's second-biggest city of Sulaimaniyah.

"This visit is a very positive point and opens dialogue between the two (parties) in order to solve the problems between the central government and Kurdistan."

State television Iraqiya confirmed the two-day visit and said the Kurdish population "is anxious to see a resolution of the problems between the region and Baghdad."

Tensions between Baghdad and Arbil have heightened in recent months over a disputed swathe of land along Kurdistan's border with the rest of Iraq, and over oil exports.

Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have for decades dominated politics in Kurdistan, and their joint list secured 57 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections last month.

The trip will be Maliki's first to the largely autonomous region since becoming Iraq's prime minister in 2006.

Barzani said on Wednesday, shortly after his re-election was confirmed, that Maliki would visit Kurdistan "soon", but did not give any details.