Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Irbil, on 9 June, his first visit to the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area in almost three years.
Nothing concrete came out of the meeting with KRG President Masoud Barzani, but the meeting was significant given deteriorating relations between Irbil and Baghdad and a spike in violence, which according to the UN, left over 1,000 dead in May, the highest monthly death toll since 2008. (CONTINUED - 781 WORDS)
