Kurdistan Observer

ARBIL, The two main Kurdish factions sharing control of northern Iraq will meet again next week to finalize an agreement on the implementation of a 1998 US-brokered peace deal, an official of one of the groups said Wednesday.

Officials from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani "made progress" toward settling the remaining issues in dispute during a five-hour meeting in KDP-controlled Salahuddin, the two sides also said in a statement.

But they could not wrap up an agreement and will meet again to find "final formulas" for resolving the contentious provisions of the deal signed in Washington four years ago, the statement said.

The talks to overcome remaining obstacles to a final agreement are expected to take place next week, a KDP official said.

The Hawlati newspaper, published in PUK-controlled Suleimaniya, said on Monday that the two parties had agreed to hold elections for a new regional parliament within six to nine months, "conditions in the area permitting", and to allow each faction to reopen offices in the zone controlled by the other.

The KDP and PUK often fought each other in the past for predominance in the Western-protected enclave in northern Iraq, which has been off-limits to the Baghdad government since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

But Barzani and Talabani agreed during a meeting in Germany in mid-April to complete implementation of the 1998 peace accord and pool their resources to combat Islamist radicals in the area.

The KDP-PUK rapprochement comes against the backdrop of US threats to launch a military strike against Iraq and topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein.