Iraqi PM Reopens Kurdish Airports to International Flights

Iraq is reopening airports in the country's Kurdish region to international flights after federal authority was restored at the hubs, according to a statement from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday.


The announcement comes some six months after the airports were initially shut to international flights following a controversial referendum vote in northern Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region that overwhelmingly backed independence from Baghdad.

The airports are due to open "within a few days" government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi told The Associated Press.

The Kurdish independence vote last September, though non-binding, was held across the autonomous region's three provinces as well as in some disputed territories controlled by Iraqi Kurdish security forces but claimed by Baghdad.
 (Tasnim)
 13/3/18