Armitage's secret visit to Iraq

The US under secretary of state Richard Armitage has ended on Saturday a visit to Iraq that lasted for two days during which he had met with the commander of the American forces in Iraq Gen. George Casey and several Iraqi politicians.

Armitage held talks with the leader of the Kurdistani Democratic Party, Masoud al-Barazani, in Irbil in Iraq's Kurdistan with the aim of convincing the Kurdish side to take part in the elections of the Karkouk's governorate council.

Al-Barazani had threatened to boycott these elections if article no 58 of the Interim State administration law is implemented. This article relates to solving pending issues in the region, while the Kurds consider it includes the geography of Karkouk and the return back of the Kurds who were expelled from it under the former Iraqi rule.