Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji and Kurdistan Region’s Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed headed the meeting that included all security and intelligence departments of both the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“The meeting discussed a number of topics and issues of common interest, including challenges to many files shared between the federal government and the region, in order to find appropriate solutions to these challenges,” said a statement by Araji’s office.
It did not detail what the common files are, but Erbil and Baghdad have recently shifted closer together in intelligence sharing regarding the low-level but ongoing Islamic State (ISIS) threat in the country, a crackdown on money laundering, and the implementation of a security pact between Baghdad and Tehran to deal with Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties based in the Kurdistan Region.
Both sides also discussed continued cooperation, intelligence exchange, and the “importance of unifying the intelligence work” to carry out security and intelligence operations in a “complementary” manner, according to the statement.
The meeting took place at the direction of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, the statement said, adding that such meetings will benefit all Iraqis and serve a “united Iraq” in the future.
Jalal Sheikh Naji, the head of Zanyari, a Kurdish intelligence department effectively controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said the meeting “took decisions” on some of the issues discussed during the bilateral talks.
He did not explain what those decisions were, except saying that they were taken in the framework of the current laws of the country. He said that Baghdad and Erbil have agreed to “unify intelligence efforts” to combat the “remaining terrorists” and outlaws in the country.
