Kurdistan
KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani speaking to journalists on June 8, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will send the names of its security and Peshmerga forces to Baghdad after reaching an agreement with the federal government, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said on Saturday.
“We have reached an agreement with the federal government to send the names of the members of the forces and the security forces,” Talabani told journalists in Sulaimani.
The full list of names will arrive in Baghdad on Saturday or Sunday, he said.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in February ordered the KRG to submit a breakdown of the monthly budget for its employee salaries to the finance ministry so Baghdad could start paying them from the federal budget.
Baghdad sent funds to cover civil servant salaries for the first five months of 2024, but it excluded the security sector for April and May, because of the KRG’s reluctance to send a detailed list of names and numbers of its forces.
Talabani said that a committee has been established from the financial auditing teams of both sides to monitor the procedures.
The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis which deteriorated when a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court suspended its export of oil to the international markets over a year ago. The Kurdish government now relies on local income and its controversial share from the federal budget.
Erbil has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds, which is 12.6 percent of the federal budget. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in meeting its payroll.
“We have reached an agreement with the federal government to send the names of the members of the forces and the security forces,” Talabani told journalists in Sulaimani.
The full list of names will arrive in Baghdad on Saturday or Sunday, he said.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in February ordered the KRG to submit a breakdown of the monthly budget for its employee salaries to the finance ministry so Baghdad could start paying them from the federal budget.
Baghdad sent funds to cover civil servant salaries for the first five months of 2024, but it excluded the security sector for April and May, because of the KRG’s reluctance to send a detailed list of names and numbers of its forces.
Talabani said that a committee has been established from the financial auditing teams of both sides to monitor the procedures.
The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis which deteriorated when a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court suspended its export of oil to the international markets over a year ago. The Kurdish government now relies on local income and its controversial share from the federal budget.
Erbil has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds, which is 12.6 percent of the federal budget. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in meeting its payroll.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment