-Salahaddin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRP.org) – In a meeting with the US Ambassador to Iraq Robert Beecroft today, President Barzani said the Iraqi government’s failure to resolve the status of the disputed areas through the Constitution is the cause of the current tensions between Erbil and Baghdad.

Ambassador Beecroft said the United States urges both sides to rely on dialogue to defuse the current crisis, adding that any changes to the status quo in the disputed areas should be made through mutual understanding and coordination between the two sides.



President Barzani said the unilateral deployment of forces in the disputed areas by the Baghdad government is illegal. He further said that the KRG is committed to pursuing dialogue and to engage with the leadership of the Iraqi National Alliance and other Iraqi forces to calm the situation, but at the same time it will not hesitate to defend itself from any aggressive actions.



The President said that the real cause of the current crisis is Iraq’s repeated failure to implement Article-140 of the Constitution which sets out a clear mechanism to determine the status of the disputed areas.