MESOP FLASH : Fuad Hussein says Kurds are sure U.S. would arm Peshmerga

 19 May 2015 – The Chief of Kurdistan Region’s Presidency Office Fuad Hussein stated the U.S. has vowed to arm the Kurdish forces of Peshmerga and has given the necessary guarantees to Erbil government in this regard.

Speaking to Asharq al-Awsat about recent Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani’s visit to Washington, Hussein said Barzani has discussed the issue of the region’s separation from Iraq and the establishment of a Kurdish state in the north of Iraq with the U.S. President Barack Obama and has reiterated that Erbil would hold an independence referendum either this year or the one to come. He further added Barzani and Obama have traded views on arming Peshmerga forces and the White House has accorded to send arms and weapons for the Kurdish forces that are at war against the militants of the Islamic State (IS), adding that the U.S. has vowed to fulfill its promise to Erbil.Hussein, however, did not reveal how the weapons would go to the Kurdish forces. He also stated Barzani and his accompanying delegation have negotiated about “the borders of Kurdistan” in the meeting but failed to reveal more details. The Kurdish official reiterated once more on the Kurdish region’s “right” to declare independence from Baghdad and stated the region would quit Iraq as soon as the situation suits it.