Claims over Diyala resolution disputed

BAQUBA, Iraq, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A Shiite lawmaker Friday denied the Iraqi central government had brokered a deal with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces over the city of Khanaqin in Diyala province.

Kurdish lawmaker Khaled Shiwani had said the Kurdistan Regional Government had reached a deal with Baghdad to allow Peshmerga forces to assume security responsibility over Khanaqin while Iraqi forces would redeploy to nearby Jalawla.

Baghdad allegedly denied the claim, and Friday Jalal Din al-Saghir with the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council said the statements from the Kurdish lawmaker were baseless, Iraqi satellite television network al-Sumaria reported.

Saghir said Iraqi security forces never deployed to Khanaqin, so the statements of their withdrawal were therefore inaccurate. He also noted Baghdad would not accept a deal concerning the Peshmerga in Khanaqin because that section of Diyala was outside Kurdish jurisdiction.

The Shiite lawmaker said talks between Baghdad and Kurdish officials had focused on imposing state control over security operations throughout Iraq.

The tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad highlight difficulties in moving forward with provincial elections, al-Sumaria noted.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi said Thursday authorities would rely on older versions of Iraqi law to move forward with the elections by the end of the year.