Iraqi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga start new round of talks

BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on Sunday started a second round of talks to resolve a conflict over control of the Kurdistan region’s border crossings, Iraqi state TV said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Friday ordered a 24-hour suspension of military operations against Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. The two sides held a first round of talks on Friday and Saturday.

Al-Abadi said the talks are meant to prepare for the peaceful deployment of Iraqi troops at the border crossings with Turkey, Iran and Syria in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Clashes broke out between the two sides after Iraqi forces captured the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from the Peshmerga, in a surprise offensive ordered by Al-Abadi after the Kurds held an independence referendum in northern Iraq on Sept. 25.

Kirkuk is part of so-called disputed areas, claimed by both the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.

“The second round of talks about deploying federal troops in the disputed areas has started,” State TV said, giving no further details.

Al-Abadi wants to take control of the disputed areas and the border crossings, including one in the Fish-Khabur area through which an oil export pipeline crosses into Turkey, carrying Iraqi and Kurdish crude oil. The KRG on Wednesday proposed an immediate cease-fire, a suspension of the referendum result and “starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi constitution” — a call rejected by Baghdad.