Baghdad's Cautious Outreach to the Kurds

Cooperation is growing between Iraq's Kurdish and Shiite leaders as a Sunni Arab pushback intensifies against the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani announced that Kurdish members of parliament would end their boycott of parliament on May 1 after a Kurdish delegation returned from negotiations in Baghdad. While the exact language of a resolution that was apparently approved by al-Maliki and Barzani has not been released, a consensus seems to have been found on issues of mutual security and stability, as well as on some budget disputes. Despite tensions over the Kurdistan Regional Government's growing cooperation with Turkey, Baghdad is showing it can still manage its contentious relationship with Arbil. Still, the growing cooperation is not a sign of warming relations; it is a reaction to a mutual threat.