ERBIL, Kurdistan Regon – Following his meeting with Parliament members Wednesday, the media office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi released a partial transcript in which Abadi offered support to the Peshmerga, but also called the independence-minded Kurdish forces an inseparable part of the Iraqi army.

“The government is fully committed to Iraq’s 2015 budget laws that would provide the provinces equal share of the budget, and the Peshmerga are an inseparable part of the Iraqi army,” Abadi was quoted as saying to PM Aram Sheikh Mohammed.

According to the release, Abadi and Mohammed praised the Peshmerga, Iraqi army, Hashd al-Shaabi and tribal forces for victories against the Islamic State, and stressed the need for a united front amongst Iraqi political factions to face the jihadi group.

Rudaw