Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) formally announced today that Safeen Dizayee, the former spokesman of the KRG, will serve as the head of its Department of Foreign Relations — in other words, as its de facto foreign minister.
Dizayee, a prominent member of former President Massoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is counted among the rare people who are trusted by the Barzanis as being loyal to the family rather than to a given influential individual within it. Dizayee is the son of Muhsin Dizayee, a scion of the eponymous tribe and one of Barzani’s closest advisers. Western diplomats have lauded Safeen Dizayee variously as reliable, discreet, gracious, humorous and open-minded. “He is a good diplomat and his English is perfect, and he speaks Arabic, Turkish and Farsi, which is a pretty good asset to have,” said a Western diplomat who worked with Dizayee. "He has deep experience and relationships in the region and beyond."
