Kurdish Delegation Heads to Iran to Discuss
Border Closures
Oct 4, 2007
An official Kurdish delegation headed Thursday morning to Iran to discuss the
recent border closures, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported, citing
an official Kurdish source. The delegation included senior leaders from the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),
spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government Jamal Abdullah said.
The delegation included Othman Hajji Mahmoud,
and Kurdistan's Minister of Interior Kareem Sinjari.
"We are looking forward to reaching an agreement between the Kurdish region and
Iran because border closures have negatively affected the interests of the (two
sides)," Abdullah added.
Two weeks ago, Iranian authorities closed all of the country's five border
crossings with Southern Kurdistan to protest the US forces' arrest of an Iranian
citizen.
The Iranian man is suspected of being involved with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps-Quds Force and of allegedly smuggling weapons into Iraq.
