Veteran Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani is visiting Baghdad for his first visit in nearly six years, marking a symbolic trip at a time of tension between Iraqi authorities and those in the Kurdish region.
Mr Barzani, a former president of Iraq's Kurdish region who leads the Kurdistan Democratic Party, was received at the airport on Wednesday by five ministers including Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Defence Minister Thabet Al Abassi, before meeting Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.
"This visit to Baghdad, given the significance of the meetings and dialogues, is particularly important as we speak with a national leadership who plays a major role in the political process," Mr Al Sudani said during the meeting.
"We had a constructive and purposeful dialogue regarding various internal issues and the situation in the region."
Mr Barzani called the discussions "constructive", saying the "viewpoints were identical".
"My visit to Baghdad is to boost the efforts previously made and led by the Prime Minister, which resulted in a real breakthrough in the relationship between the federal and the region's governments," he said.
Mr Barzani then met political leaders, including those of Iran-backed factions.
One of his meetings was with the Co-ordination Framework, the largest political group in the Iraqi Parliament, which consists of pro-Iran political factions and militias.
That meeting took place at the residence of senior Shiite leader Ammar Al Hakim, who leads Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement within the Co-ordination Framework.
Mr Barzani also met the ambassadors of the US, UK, France, China and Russia, his office said.
Earlier, a government official told The National that the visit was to “to push forward talks over different issues, building on recent developments in this regard".
“His presence will help further melting the ice and paving the way for more developments.”
The Kurdish region officially gained autonomy after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, formalising a de facto situation that had held since 1992, when Iraqi government forces withdrew from the region after their defeat in the 1991 Gulf War.
Its autonomy was strengthened and recognised in Iraq's 2005 constitution.
Since then, the region has been at odds with the federal authorities in Baghdad on issues including rights to develop and market oil and gas, the region’s share in the federal budget and Kurdish claims to land outside its official jurisdiction.
Relations soured in September 2017 when the Kurdish region held an independence referendum, prompting punitive measures from the federal authorities.
In early 2022, the tension with Baghdad increased when the Kurdish oil and gas sector took a major blow from Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court, which ruled that the region's law regulating the industry was unconstitutional.
The court also demanded that the region hand over all of the oil industry’s activities to Baghdad, including exports.
Almost a year later, a second blow came when the arbitration of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce forced Turkey to halt the flow of about 500,000 barrels of oil per day.
Of those, about 70,000 barrels came from Baghdad-run fields in the northern province of Kirkuk.
Since then, no major progress has been achieved to resume oil exports and Baghdad is still waiting to take over the region's oil industry.
But there has been some progress in some areas.
In recent months, the region accepted to send the lists of its employees to federal authorities to be paid directly by Baghdad. It also started handing over non-oil revenue to the federal government.
Both Bagdad and Erbil have been co-operating on security issues, handing over suspects to federal authorities and launching joint security operations in the region.
On Monday, they announced the arrests of three suspects linked to the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party, accusing them of sabotage attacks.
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Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Date: Sunday, November 25
MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
The Bio
Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride
She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.
Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years
Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves
She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in
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Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
