Kurdistan heading towards settlement, says Kurdish official

Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Hammam Hamoudi, has said that players involved in the crisis with the Kurdish region north of Iraq are moving towards a settlement.

Hamoudi made the remarks on the sidelines of his meeting with the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Ján Kubiš.

Hamoudi stressed that “Iraq has overcome the risk of tearing apart its unity”.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi President Fuad Masum called for the air embargo imposed on international flights to and from Kurdistan to be lifted.

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Meanwhile, a member of the National Alliance bloc, Iskander Watut, told Anadolu news agency that the regional government is expected to hand control of the border crossings to the federal authorities without any problems.

“The federal government is waiting for the region to hand over control of the border crossing [so it can] be run according to the Iraqi constitution along with all the oil fields” he said.

On Tuesday the Kurdish Regional Government welcomed the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court interpretation of article 1 of the constitution, which bans any component from separation.

Relations between Iraq and Kurdistan deteriorated after Erbil conducted a referendum on separation from Iraq.