Former KRG Prime Minister Says Iraqi Politics More Polarized Than Ever

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor’s Andrew Parasiliti, Kurdistan leader Barham Salih warned, “let’s not repeat the mishaps of the Iraq transition” in planning for a post-Assad Syria, and said that the “Iraqi political crisis is far from over,” and compared threats to cut the Kurdistan Region’s share of the Iraqi budget to the tactics of Saddam Hussein.

Andrew Parasiliti

Sep 12, 2012

Iraq's Kurdistan region Prime Minister Barham Salih speaks during an interview with Reuters in Arbil, 310 km (193 miles) north of Baghdad July 19, 2010. Iraqi Kurdistan cabinet approved stricter measures including stepped-up border surveillance on Monday to stop any illegal trade in crude oil across the borders of the semi autonomous northern region, Salih said. Picture taken July 19, 2010. To match Interview IRAQ-OIL/KURDS REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS) — Iraq's Kurdistan region then-prime minister Barham Salih speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, 310 km (193 miles) north of Baghdad July 19, 2010. — REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor’s Andrew Parasiliti, Barham Salih, Deputy Secretary-General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and former prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG), warned, “let’s not repeat the mishaps of the Iraq transition” in planning for a post-Assad Syria.

Salih, who also previously served as the deputy prime minister of Iraq, added that Syria’s communities have a shared interest “to prevent the hijacking of the revolution by extremists and fundamentalists.”