Word: talabanis
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...however, had become an embarrassing inconvenience to Baghdad's increasingly cozy ties to Tehran. Although Iraq has repeatedly said it is in its own national interest to remove the group, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in late February, left little doubt as to what he expected the Iraqis to do. "We await the implementation of our agreement regarding the expulsion of the hypocrites," he was quoted as saying...
...fighting Saddam's genocidal campaign against the ethnic Kurdish minority. After Saddam's downfall, the two parties put aside their differences - the KDP is a tribal-style organization dominated by the Barzani family, and the PUK is a socialist-like group run by a party cadre led by Jalal Talabani - to present a united Kurdish front in negotiations with Arab Iraqis and the U.S. over the future of the Iraqi state. As part of the deal, the KDP agreed to push for the nomination of Talabani to be the first President of Iraq, while KDP leader Massoud Barzani became...
...parties' cooperation helped them win major concessions for the Kurds while the rest of Iraq was mired in civil war. Besides winning the presidency for Talabani, the Kurds had their claims to disputed areas of northern Iraq, particularly the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, recognized in Iraq's new constitution. But the region's leaders have been cautious about pushing the Kurds' nationalist claims too far. Although the Kurdish population overwhelmingly supports the creation of an independent Kurdish state carved out of northern Iraq, Kurdish leaders realize it would have a slim chance of survival surrounded by hostile neighbors - Turkey...
Ironically, the Change List's electoral success could result in the further consolidation of power in the hands of the KDP. The balance of power between the KDP and the PUK started to shift in the KDP's favor after Talabani took the prestigious but highly symbolic office of the Iraqi presidency, allowing Massoud Barzani to build up a power base back home in Kurdistan. The Change List further eroded the PUK's stature in the region by mounting a significant challenge against the party on its home turf in Sulaimaniyah...
...Talabani-Barzani alliance has been accused of hoarding the money directed to Kurdistan from both outside investment and Baghdad; critics have also charged it with nepotism, alleging that key political and administrative positions have been handed over to kinfolk or party stalwarts; opponents also say that the budget process lacks transparency. "It's these ideas," says Rebwar Karim Mahmood, a political-science professor at Suleimaniya University, "that opposition parties and groups are using to campaign in the elections." This month KRG prime minister Nechirvan Barzani (Massoud's nephew) launched a process to improve government openness. Qubad Talabani (Jalal...