Baker team's Iraq blueprint rejected by Kurdish leader

THE Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has angrily rejected the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group in the United States and warned of "grave consequences" if there is any delay in deciding the fate of the oil-rich region claimed by his people.

Mr Barzani, president of the 15-year-old autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and a staunch ally of the US, also criticised the ISG for not visiting his region, saying that was a "major shortcoming that adversely influenced the credibility of the assessment".

Mr Barzani said the high-profile panel led by the former US secretary of state James Baker, which released its report on Wednesday, had ignored a letter he sent it outlining Kurdish views. "It seemed as if they had not read it at all," he said.

He went on: "We think that the Iraq Study Group has made some unrealistic and inappropriate recommendations for helping the US to get out of these difficulties [in Iraq]. We are in no way abiding by this report."

Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, who is also a Kurd, agreed with Mr Barzani's assessment, saying some of the report's recommendations ran contrary to his country's national interests.

Mr Barzani particularly criticised the ISG's calls for a far-reaching amnesty for opposition groups and the reinstatement of Saddam Hussein's loyalists to their old government jobs as part of national reconciliation efforts.