Pompeo congratulates President-elect Barzani on victory

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday expressed a continued commitment to Iraqi partners in a telephone call with new President-elect of the Iraqi Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani.

Pompeo congratulated Barzani on his victory in elections last Tuesday by the parliament of northern Iraqi region.

Barzani clinched the support of 68 of 81 lawmakers who attended the parliamentary vote.

His Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) emerged as the largest bloc in parliament following elections last September with 45 seats. The Kurdish Regional Government presidency had remained vacant since November 2017, when the mandate of then-President Masoud Barzani, Nechirvan’s uncle -- who had been in office since 2005 -- expired.

"The Secretary expressed appreciation for the President-elect's leadership in resolving outstanding Baghdad-Erbil issues according to the Iraqi constitution’s framework for dialogue," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

In October 2017, Iraqi federal forces seized Kirkuk province from Kurdish peshmerga forces loyal to northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.

Then last month, the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) reached a final agreement on the formation of a new Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.

Home to large Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab communities, Kirkuk is one of several parts of Iraq disputed between Baghdad and the Erbil-based KRG.

The U.S. has an embassy in Baghdad and a consulate in Erbil.

Pompeo also urged "continued joint operations by Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga" against the Daesh terror group.