Barzani and Talabani confirm to Cairo refusal of any plan to divide Iraq

The leaders of the two major Iraqi Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's Jalal Talabani and Kurdish Democratic Party's Masoud Barzani, emphasized Iarqi national unity and their refusal to participate in any plan aimed at harming Iraq, in separate messages from the two Kurdish leaders to Cairo.

Egyptian assistant foreign minister for Arab and Middle East affairs Sayed Abu Zayed met with the representative the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Cairo, Adnan El-Mofty to discuss the Egyptian position toward the situation in Iraq.

Abu Zied stressed the need to solve problems without any external interference in Iraqi unity.

El-Mofty said that he explained the situation in the Kurdistan region to Abu Zied and the outcomes of the meetings between US State Department official David Welch during his visit to the region the last month and Barzani and Talabani, referring to Talabani's concern with informing Egypt about the current efforts to carry out a national reconciliation and the situation surrounding the implementation of the UN oil-for-food program.