Two Kurdistani parties exchange prisoners

Kurdistan Democratic Party radio was quoted by the BBC as saying that the two Kurdistani rivalry factions in North Iraq had decided to exchange prisoners.

The radio report added that the decision was taken during a tripartite meeting between the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Masoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Jalal Talibani in Koya, near Arbil city in northern Iraq.

The decision to release all prisoners of war in the two parties came just after positive talks between Talibani and a delegation from the Kurdistan Democratic Party on August 24 in Qala Shoulan in northeastern Iraq.

News reports from northern Iraq said that both Talibani and Barzani will head for Washington in the middle of September at the invitation extended to them by the US undersecretary of state, David Welch. The two men will discuss with US officials bilateral reconciliation efforts and the situation in the region, MENA reported.