SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region—Despite local opposition to his visit, Iraq’s embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived at Sulaimani today to see former president Jalal Talabani after his return from Germany.

The visit comes at a time that relations between Erbil and Baghdad are at all time low due to serious disputes between both governments over oil and gas issues and the autonomous region’s share of the federal budget that has been blocked by Baghdad since January.

Talabani, secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Iraq’s former president returned from medical treatment in Germany last week.

Kurdish leaders have long accused Maliki of paying little heed to constitutional mandates meant to promote power sharing among Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

The Iraqi prime minister has been in office since 2006. His second term in 2010 was made possible after the Kurds lent him their support after signing an agreement in Erbil.

The Shiite premier is especially unpopular among the Kurds for squeezing Erbil on oil policies and imposing a virtual economic siege, forcing Kurdish civil servants to go unpaid for months.

“I never like him to come to this city, he has cut off the salaries of people,” said a man from Sulaimani after hearing about Maliki’s expected visit. “He should be pelted with stones as soon as he gets off the plane.”

Some Kurds vented their anger at Maliki on social media, demanding protests in Sulaimani against him.

"People of Sulaimani, if you do not protest against the man who cut Kurdistan's budget and threatened Kurds, then shame on you,” said Cewlik Bengol in an online comment. “Show what you think of the man whose militia in Baghdad threatens Kurds,” the commentator said.

Kurdsat, PUK’s main TV station aired a brief but silent video of the Iraqi premier with Talabani. Neither the PUK nor the Iraqi government has commented on the visit.

Rudaw