Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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A model of Saudi airline Flynas is on display during a ceremony to sign a deal between Airbus andFlynas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

Saudi Flynas Makes First Commercial Flight to Baghdad Since 1990

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | Oct 18, 2017 | Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s budget airliner flynas announced on Wednesday making the first commercial flight from Riyadh to Baghdad since 1990, as ties with neighboring Iraq improved over the last period. National flag carrier Saudia, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, is...

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An Iraqi army tank is pictured during a military operation toward the town of Hit, in west of Ramadi, March 8, 2016. Picture taken March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

Kurds: Baghdad Gives Ultimatum on Kirkuk Pullback

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | Oct 14, 2017 | Middle East

Baghdad has set a pre-dawn Sunday deadline for Kurdish forces to abandon positions in the disputed oil province of Kirkuk they took during the fightback against ISIS more than three years ago, a senior Kurdish official said. “The deadline set for the peshmerga...

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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to take the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar/Nov. 2015. AP

Abadi’s Clarifications Fail to Eliminate Kurdish Concerns

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Oct 13, 2017 | Middle East

Baghdad, Irbil — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stressed on Thursday that his government would not wage a war against the Kurds, but his comments failed to eliminate worries among the Kurdistan Region residents of a possible movement of the federal forces...

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Kurdish people attend a rally to show their support for the upcoming September 25th independence referendum in Duhuk, Iraq September 16, 2017.

Kurdish Referendum : Thinking, Not Threats

by Robert Ford | Sep 23, 2017 | Opinion

I was the head of the political office at the American Embassy in Baghdad in 2005 during the long, difficult negotiations between Iraqi political leaders about the new Iraqi constitution. The negotiations centered on issues like decentralization, accountability and...

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Barzani attends a news conference in Erbil. Reuters

Kirkuk Joins Independence Referendum… ‘Kurdish Brexit’ Won’t Be Easy

by Ghassan Charbel | Sep 7, 2017 | Middle East

Kirkuk- Iraq’s oil-producing region of Kirkuk is cursed for having both wealth and diversity. It lies on oil wells and on the spines of frightened identities. Its fate has been poisoned by Arab-Kurdish relations for decades and was the first cause behind costly wars....