Wednesday, 18 July 2007, 04:05 EDT
By The Globe- Erbil

Crises in the region and Iraq dominate Barzani's meeting with Iraqi lawmaker.

Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani met with a number of Iraqi Parliament members on Thursday, July 12, at his home office in Pirmam, north of Erbil, to discuss several current issues of Kurdistan and Iraq. Talks centered on unity, the federal and democratic system, and focused on the Iraqi Constitution as a key solution to the crises.

"Iraq is a country for all and all have to save it from the current crises," he said, explaining that democracy and federalism are the only solutions for keeping the country united.

During the meeting, Barzani highlighted several issues, including the distribution of Iraq's oil revenue. The Kurdistan president referred to the Iraqi oil and gas law that was recently approved by the government and delivered to Parliament for approval. "The revenues are for all Iraqis," he stated.

Regarding the amendments that could possibly be inserted into the Iraqi Constitution, Barzani said that the process must be according to the mechanism set by the Constitution itself. Concerning Kirkuk and other disputable areas, Barzani mentioned Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution as a solution for those disputes.

"This doesn't mean that Kirkuk will be partitioned from Iraq; even Kurdistan Region is a part of Iraq. But keeping away from the problem is not a solution. This is a constitutional article and must be applied."

Addressing the political situation of the country, he said, "Dictatorship must never return to the Iraqi authority. It is not allowed for any country, party, or ethnic section to return dictatorship to Iraq."

Speaking of Kurdistan's relation with its neighboring countries, he stated, "We like to have good relations with neighboring countries. But sometimes we hear some of them threatening us. We don't want to develop problems and instability, and we will defend our country." He repeated once again that they prefer dialogue and respect the sovereignty of those countries. "We never let our borders be used for staging attacks," he said, in relation to the heated debate between Turkey and Kurdistan Region over the PKK issue.

As for the existence of multinational forces in Iraq, Barzani explained to the Iraqi Parliament members, "No one likes to have foreign forces in his country. But withdrawing those forces will be catastrophic and will be a victory for terrorists and for exporting terror to other countries."