No pay until Kurds give up referendum, Baghdad says

BAGHDAD: Baghdad will not pay the salaries of employees of the Iraqi Kurdish region government (KRG) and will not initiate dialogue with the regional government until Kurds give up the September-referendum, Iraqi political leaders told Arab News on Monday.

There would also be no pay or dialogue until the Kurds handed over control of the border crossings and airports to the federal authorities and the central government regained control over the exports of oil through the Ceyhan-Turkey pipeline, they said.

Kurdistan held a controversial referendum on independence on Sept. 25. Baghdad imposed a series of punitive measures, including a ban on international flights to airports in the region and launched a military operation to regain control over Kirkuk, its lucrative oil fields and the disputed areas, which have been controlled by the KRG in the past years.

The Supreme Federal Court last week ruled that the referendum is “unconstitutional” and its results and implications “should be canceled.” KRG said that the court’s decision was “unilateral and political motivated” and has not expressed a commitment to the court’s decisions.

To ease sanctions and start a dialogue with its government, Baghdad asked for the cancelation of the referendum and the delivery of border crossings and airports within the region to the federal authorities.

“The demands of the federal government are still in place and there is no change in attitude. Canceling the referendum or declaring their (Kurds) commitment to the unity of Iraq is still the first requirement for everyone in Baghdad,” Abdullah Al-Zaidi, who is in charge of Shiite-Kurdish relations within the ruling Shiite National Alliance, told Arab News.

“We have not heard explicit and clear expressions stating the cancelation of the referendum. They have been using loose phrases which are not conclusive,” Zaidi said.

The Kurdish regional Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, in a televised press conference on Monday, called for Baghdad to cancel its punitive measures in the region and start “serious” talks with the KRG over the disputed issues.