King Salman phones al-Abadi over situation in Kirkuk

CAIRO – 17 October 2017: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received a telephone call on Monday from King Salman bin Abdel Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who expressed opposition to the Kurdish independence referendum held earlier this month.

According to a statement released by the Iraqi government, King Salman stressed his support to the unity of Iraq, noting that Saudi Arabia follows with interest the situation in Kirkuk.

Iraq began a military campaign on Monday to seize the vital city of Kirkuk and surrounding oil fields, ousting the Kurdish forces that had controlled the region for three years in their effort to build an independent nation in the northern region of Iraq.

The Kurds voted overwhelmingly in a referendum three weeks ago for independence from Iraq. The United States, Baghdad and most countries in the region condemned the vote, fearing it would fuel ethnic division across the region.

Al-Abadi appreciated the Saudi kingdom’s support to his country, expressing Iraq’s keenness to boost the bilateral relations between the two countries. An Iraqi government delegation is scheduled to visit Riyadh next week to sign a cooperation deal in different sectors.