KRG leader Barzani meets with Obama, Biden for talks

Obama reaffirmed America’s commitment to its “close and historic relationship” with the Kurdish region of Iraq in a meeting with Barzani, the White House confirmed late Wednesday.

Obama administration officials urged Barzani to re-engage with Baghdad as relations between leaders in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and the central government have soured.

Prior to the meeting, Biden hosted Barzani for a working lunch to discuss steps the US would take to expand services at its consulate in Arbil and expressed support for continued high-level consultations between the US and KRG representatives, the White House noted.

Earlier in the day, Barzani met with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the State Department, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped by the meeting to greet the KRG leader, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said. Barzani also met with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, according to the Pentagon. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released further details on the talks.

Meanwhile, spokesman for the US Embassy in Baghdad Michael McClellan said in a statement released on Wednesday, “US policy on supporting the unity of Iraq, as anchored in numerous UN resolutions and US policy statements, is unwavering.”

The meetings came a day after Obama called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to congratulate him on the Arab summit held last week and to stress his support for a unified Iraq.

The US leader also told Maliki that he backed Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s call for a national conference this week to bridge sharp differences between rival political blocs in the country, from which US troops withdrew last year at the end of a nearly nine-year-long war.