MESOP TODAY’S AGENDA : ALL ABOUT JOHN KERRY’s TRIP / A SUMMARY

Kerry Urges Inclusive Iraqi Government

U.S. secretary of state John Kerry on Tuesday urged Kurdish president Masoud Barzani to help form an inclusive government in Baghdad as Washington seeks a political resolution to the crisis in Iraq, which deepened as Sunni tribesmen reportedly wrested control of the Baiji oil refinery from security forces (WaPo). However, the Kurds’ demands for greater autonomy and advances in the contested city of Kirkuk make such reconciliation unlikely (NYT).

Kerry’s visit to the Kurdish capital of Erbil follows an unscheduled visit to Baghdad, where he pushed for a more conciliatory leadership with or without Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (WSJ), and coincides with the deployment of U.S. military advisers, whose arrival was facilitated by a legal immunity agreement similar to the one rejected by the White House in 2011, when it opted for a full withdrawal (NYT). The United Nations on Tuesday said at least 1,075 people, the vast majority of them civilians (AP), were killed in Iraq in June as a result of the fighting.