Iraq’s Maliki visits Arbil region to resolve disputes

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has traveled to the country’s Kurdistan region for the first time in over two years in an effort to resolve the longstanding territorial and oil disputes.

Maliki arrived at the Arbil airport on Sunday, where he was received by Massoud Barzani, the president of Kurdistan Regional Government, and a delegation of senior Kurdish officials.

“This is one step along the path towards resolving all outstanding issues. Their importance is sometimes exaggerated, and sometimes these issues get out of hand,” the Iraqi leader said in a televised interview before a cabinet meeting, adding, “There is a strong desire to find solutions to all these problems.”

According to reports, Iraqi and Kurdish officials are due to hold further talks after the meeting. The Iraqi leader will also meet with Barzani to discuss the country’s internal situation.

Maliki paid his last visit to the region in 2010, when the “Arbil Agreement” was struck. The deal authorized the formation of a power-sharing government following months of dispute, but was not fully implemented.

Kurdistan has been an autonomous part of Iraq since 1991. Baghdad and the Kurdistan region have been at odds over a number of issues, including oil production and lands.

The Kurds are determined to maintain their autonomy and develop their own oil resources. They have signed contracts on their own terms over the past years, causing resentment in Iraq’s central government.

Baghdad and the Kurdistan region also lay claim to a tract of land that stretches from Iraq’s eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria.