Kerry in Kurdistan to urge leaders to be part of national government

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday to urge its leaders not to withdraw from the political process in Baghdad after their forces took control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk. Peshmerga fighters, the security forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, seized control of Kirkuk on June 12 after the Iraqi military fled in the face of an onslaught from Sunni militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Kurds have long dreamed of taking Kirkuk, a city with huge oil reserves just outside the autonomous region, which they regard as their historical capital. If they hold onto Kirkuk, revenues from its major oilfields could far surpass any budget offer from Baghdad, boosting its ambition of succeeding as a fully independent state. But Kerry, who is on a tour of Middle East countries to discuss the deepening crisis in Iraq, hopes to convince Kurdish leaders to be part of a new government in Baghdad where they can assume senior positions and have a say in the oil wealth. While in Baghdad on Monday, Kerry said he had been assured by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki he would meet a July 1 deadline to form a new inclusive government. Washington is pressing Maliki to move quickly in the face of gains by Sunni militants who have advanced toward the capital. ‘The secretary’s visit will be very important both to confer with the Kurdish leadership and also encourage them to play a very active role in this government formation process, including choosing a very strong president who can represent both Kurdish interests but also Iraqi interests,’ said a senior State Department official who briefed reporters. ‘If they decide to withdraw from the Baghdad political process it will accelerate a lot of the negative trends,’ the official said, according to Reuters.