Zebari says Kurdish ministers will rejoin Iraqi government

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Publication Date 20 August 2014
Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Zebari says Kurdish ministers will rejoin Iraqi government, 20 August 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54003f38b.html [accessed 17 September 2023]
DisclaimerThis is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

August 20, 2014

Iraqi's outgoing foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebbari, says Kurdish ministers who suspended their participation in the government of outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have rejoined the administration.

"I am back in Baghdad as foreign minister," Reuters quotes Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, as saying on August 20.

On August 15, Maliki announced that he would step down and support Prime Minister-designate Haidar al-Abadi to "safeguard the high interests of the country."

Maliki infuriated Kurdish leaders by accusing them of harboring terrorists after Islamic State (IS) militants swept through northern Iraq in June.

Zebari also urged the world to support Baghdad in its fight against IS militants, calling the group a threat to the world, not just to Iraq's minority ethnic groups.

Islamic State, which seeks hard-line rule under an Islamic caliphate, has seized large swaths of territory in both Iraq and Syria.

Based on reporting by Reuters

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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