US mediation among fighting Kurds groups

The US State Department on Tuesday announced that an American team headed by one of senior diplomats is currently mediating between the Kurdish warring groups in northern Iraq.

News reports quoted the assistant spokesman for the US State Department Philip Recker saying that the team which is headed by the US under secretary of state for the Middle East affairs Rayan Crocker will be meeting with members in the Kurdistani democratic party and the Kurdistani national federation party.

Recker said that the chairman of the Kurdistani national federation Jalal al-Talibani and the leader of the Kurdistani democratic party Mesout Barazani had asked the US help to eliminate their differences.

Recker added that this delegation represents the first step in the mediation process, noting that Crocker's mission shows the US continued stand beside the Iraqi opposition and also permits assessment of the implementation process of the oil-for-food program in north Iraq.