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Talks on contested northern Iraqi boundaries begins in Baghdad – UN

Talks on contested northern Iraqi boundaries begins in Baghdad – UN

Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),
Talks on disputed internal Iraqi boundaries – in the oil-rich, ethnically mixed north – have been launched, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) announced today.

Talks on disputed internal Iraqi boundaries – in the oil-rich, ethnically mixed north – have been launched, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) announced today.

The top UN envoy to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, met with senior representatives of the country’s Prime Minister and the Kurdistan Regional Government on Wednesday to kick-start the Task Force on Dialogue for follow-up to the UNAMI reports on the demarcations.

Mr. de Mistura submitted reports on the contested areas to Iraq’s highest officials in April in a bid to initiate dialogue on the issues.

UNAMI, headed by Mr. de Mistura, stressed that the deeply-researched reports – with one prepared for each of the more than one dozen disputed districts – are analytical, not prescriptive.

Included in the reports is a discussion paper on the future of the Kirkuk governorate, which proposes four options – all of which treat the governorate as a single entity – based on the Iraqi Constitution and requiring a political agreement among the parties, as well as some form of referendum.

In his report to the UN Security Council, released earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced support for the mission’s efforts to assist the parties in finding mutually acceptable solutions.

“In particular, UNAMI’s in-depth analytical report on Iraq’s disputed internal boundaries could serve as useful starting point for constructive dialogue,” said Mr. Ban.

The Task Force will gather again next week on 16 June, and after that it will meet on a weekly basis under UN auspices.