Breaking
PUK leader Talabani withdraws from regional government, deals blow to Kurds globally
The rupture could unravel the semi-autonomous region, which Iraq’s 2005 constitution recognized as a federal entity with strong US backing.
Bafel Talabani, president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the junior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, announced on Thursday that it was pulling out of the coalition with the Kurdistan Democratic Party. The move unleashed a political earthquake that could break up the Kurdish entity, which was formally granted federal status under Iraq's 2005 constitution, with the firm backing of the United States.
Emerging from an hour-long meeting with his top leadership, Talabani said they had decided to “withdraw from this failed government.”
There was no immediate reaction from the KDP.
Standoff
