Kurdish ministers boycott Iraqi cabinet meetings

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/10/kurdish-ministers-boycott-iraq-cabinet-meetings

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Kurdish ministers in the Iraqi government have said they are boycotting meetings of the country's caretaker cabinet, as authorities in Baghdad halt cargo flights to two Kurdish cities in an escalating row between the Shia-led central government and Kurdish leaders.

The suspension of attendance was in protest at Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's "provocative" branding of the Kurdish provincial capital Irbil as a haven for the Sunni militant group Isis, the Kurdish ministers said in a statement on Thursday.

However, the officials would continue running their ministries and "did not pull out from the government," according to a senior Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Kurds are now closer than ever to abandoning Iraq altogether, with Massoud Barzani, leader of their autonomous region, calling last week for his parliament to prepare a referendum on independence.

Maliki's relationship with Barzani has steadily deteriorated since last month, when Isis and allied Sunni armed groups seized swaths of northern and western Iraq.

The Kurdish ministers did not indicate a timeline for their boycott or terms for their return, but they called for an inclusive national government. Iraq's cabinet holds scheduled meetings every Tuesday and exceptional meetings can be called at other times.

Hours after that announcement, the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority, Nasser Bandar, said cargo flights to Irbil and Iraq's second main Kurdish city, Sulaimaniya, had been suspended until further notice. He said passenger flights were unaffected.

With an Islamist insurgency raging in Iraq's Sunni provinces, the US and other countries have called for politicians in Baghdad to set up a more inclusive government following a parliamentary election in April.

But the new legislature has failed to agree on leadership for the country, leaving Maliki in power as a caretaker while Shia and Kurdish leaders trade accusations over the insurgency.

Maliki, meanwhile, has accused the Kurds of exploiting the crisis to push for statehood. Kurdish forces exploited the turmoil to seize control of the city of Kirkuk and its huge oil reserves a month ago, achieving a long-held dream.