BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The media office of the parliament's Deputy Speaker Aaref Tifour denied on Monday the presence of a legal councilor or an official spokesperson with the name "Saleh al-Maliki", rejecting statements on supporting decision to ban Kurds from traveling abroad.

 

 

He expressed regret over statements by some persons who aim at deteriorating the situation between Baghdad and Arbil, underlining the

importance of calming down the situation and referring to the constitution to solve all issues and pending files.

 

 

Tensions between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq have been running high after the establishment of a new military command covering disputed territory, and over various other long-running disputes.

 

 

The establishment of the command, based in Kirkuk city and covering all of the province of the same name as well as neighboring Salah al-Din and Diala, has drawn an angry response from Kurdish leaders who want to incorporate much of the area into their autonomous region.

 

 

The dispute over the command strikes at the heart of an unresolved row between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government in Arbil over territory, oil and the interpretation of Iraq's federal constitution.

 

 

SH (TS)/SR