Safin Hamed, AFP | A roundabout at Erbil's International Airport in the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a decree on Tuesday he would lift a ban on international air traffic to the Kurdistan Region and flights could resume within one week.

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International flights to and from the semi-autonomous region's two main airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah were halted on Sept. 29 as part of sanctions imposed on the Kurds after they held an independence referendum four days earlier in defiance of Baghdad and voted overwhelmingly in favour of separation.

Kurdish authorities have agreed that the airports should come under federal control and report to Baghdad's interior ministry, the decree said.

"The opening of Kurdish airports to international flights is an important step," Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told a news conference according to Kurdish Rudaw TV. "We hope more significant steps will be taken."

Only domestic flights have been allowed through the region's airports, with foreign airlines suspending their routes in accordance with an order from the central government.

This hit the Kurdistan Region's economy, with a decrease in tourism and travel affecting local businesses.

Abadi's decree announced the creation of a new Directorate for Special Protection for Kurdistan's airports "under the command and control of the Federal Ministry of the Interior".

Federal customs authorities will supervise the "introduction, production and handling of materials and equipment through the two airports", the decree said.

It also specified that a biometric system used in Kurdistan's airports will be linked with the federal system.

It was not immediately clear whether the region would maintain its independent visa system. The deputy spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said talks were ongoing on the issue.

Budget dispute

The decree comes amid a dispute over the 2018 budget, which the Kurds have vehemently opposed since it was passed by parliament earlier this month.

Soon after the decree was issued, a legal advisor to Iraq's President Fuad Masum, said Masum was refusing to approve the budget.

"After checking the budget we found constitutional, legal and financial violations that need to be addressed by parliament, which should make amendments and return the budget to the president for approval," Amir al-Kenany told Reuters.

The long-delayed budget of 104 trillion Iraqi dinars ($88 billion) was passed by parliament on March 3, but Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the vote in protest over their region's diminished allocation.

The budget cut the Kurds' share from the 17 percent the region has traditionally received since the fall of Saddam Hussein. It did not specify the exact percentage to be allocated to the KRG instead stipulating it would receive funds proportional to its share of the population.

In a previous draft the KRG portion was set at 12.67 percent, which is how much of Iraq's population Baghdad says the provinces in Kurdistan make up. The KRG disputes that estimate.

Masum is a Kurd and holds a largely ceremonial role as most power lies with the prime minister who belongs to the Shi'ite Muslim majority.

However, he has the authority guaranteed by Iraq's constitution to ratify all laws passed by parliament and can return draft laws to parliament.

"We are sending it (the budget) back to the parliament to amend the legal and constitutional violations we pointed out," Kenany said.

(REUTERS)</s>BAGHDAD, March 13 (Reuters) - Iraq has lifted the ban on international flights to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region's airports, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Kurdistan's regional airports will be under the command of the Federal Ministry of the Interior," the statement said.

The ban on international flights was part of sanctions imposed on the Kurdistan Region after it conducted a referendum in September on Kurdish independence in defiance of Baghdad's wishes. (Reporting by Raya Jalabi Editing by Alison Williams)</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on March 13, 2018 11:04 AM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has lifted the ban on international flights to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region's airports, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement on Tuesday. "Kurdistan's regional airports will be under the command of the Federal Ministry of the Interior," the statement said. The ban on international flights was part of sanctions imposed on the Kurdistan Region after it conducted a referendum in September on Kurdish independence in defiance of Baghdad's wishes. Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.</s>On Tuesday, the press office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced that international air traffic to and from Iraqi Kurdistan's airports should be resumed within one week. The decision came just a few weeks after the Iraqi government decided to extend the flight ban by another three months until May 31.

READ MORE: Baghdad Lifts Ban on International Flights to Iraqi Kurdistan — PM Office

Relations between the Iraqi federal authorities and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan deteriorated sharply following the Kurdish independence referendum on September 25 that was deemed illegal by Baghdad. Following the vote, Iraq imposed sanctions on the Kurdish regional government; the country restricted banking operations, closed border crossings and banned international flights to and from the region. The last international flight from Iraqi Kurdistan left on September 29.</s>Iraq has lifted the ban on international flights to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region’s airports, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday. Kurdistan’s regional airports will be under the command of the federal Interior Ministry, according to the prime minister’s statement. The ban on international flights was part of sanctions imposed on the Kurdistan Region after it conducted a referendum in September on Kurdish independence in defiance of Baghdad’s position, Reuters said. Al-Abadi’s announcement came following a meeting with police officers and employees at the Kurdish airports. “The local authorities in Kurdistan Region reciprocated to returning the federal authority to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports,” the statement said.</s>Iraqi authorities said Tuesday they were lifting a nearly six-month air blockade imposed on Iraqi Kurdistan in response to its holding of an independence referendum.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement the airports of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah would again be "open to international flights".

Federal authorities imposed the blockade in September after Iraqi Kurdistan voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum rejected as illegal by the central government.

It was extended in December for two months and renewed in February for another possible three months.

The decision to lift the flight ban was made "after local Kurdish authorities accepted that central authorities retake control of the two airports," the statement said.

The formal lifting of the blockade will take place in the next few days, Abadi's spokesman Saad al-Hadithi told AFP.

"This will depend on how long it takes for employees of the central government to start working in the airports," he said.

Since the flight ban went into force, all Kurdistan-bound international flights have been rerouted to Baghdad, which also imposed entry visas to foreigners wishing to visit the Kurdish region.

The flight ban was part of a battery of penalties inflicted on the Kurds as Baghdad sought to nullify the poll, with federal forces also seizing disputed oil-rich regions.</s>Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday announced the resumption of international flights to the two main cities in Iraqi Kurdistan - Erbil and Sulaymaniyah - following their suspension in Sept. 2017 in response to the autonomous region's independence referendum.

Haider al-Abadi's statement said international flights would be resumed within one week, after authorities in Kurdistan, located in northern Iraq, agreed to hand over control of their airports and border posts to federal authorities at Iraq's Ministry of Interior.</s>Iraq has lifted the ban on international flights to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) airports after federal authority was restored at the hubs, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement on Tuesday

"Kurdistan's regional airports will be under the command of the Federal Ministry of the Interior," the statement said.

Al-Abadi's announcement on Tuesday comes some six months after the airports were initially shut to international flights following a controversial referendum vote in northern Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region that overwhelmingly backed independence from Baghdad.

The vote, though non-binding, was held across the autonomous Kurdish region's three provinces as well as in some disputed territories controlled by Iraqi Kurdish security forces but claimed by Baghdad.

The referendum was vehemently rejected by Baghdad and Iraq's other neighbors, ratcheting up tensions in the region on the heels of military victories against the Daesh group.</s>Iraqi authorities said on Tuesday they were lifting a nearly six-month air blockade imposed on Iraqi Kurdistan in response to its holding of an independence referendum.

Federal authorities imposed the blockade in September after Iraqi Kurdistan voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum rejected as illegal by the central government.

It was extended in December for two months and renewed in February for another possible three months. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement the airports of Kurdish regional capital Arbil and second city Sulaimaniyah would again be “open to international flights”.

The decision to lift the flight ban was made “after local Kurdish authorities accepted that central authorities retake control of the two airports,” the statement said.

The formal lifting of the blockade will take place in the next few days, Abadi’s spokesman Saad al-Hadithi told AFP.

“This will depend on how long it takes for employees of the central government to start working in the airports,” he said.

Iraqi Kurdish prime minister Nechirvan Barzani told a press conference shortly after the announcement that he “thanked Baghdad and Prime Minister Abadi because it is he who decided to reopen the airports”.

Since the flight ban went into force, all Kurdistan-bound international flights have been rerouted to Baghdad, which also imposed entry visas on foreigners wishing to visit the Kurdish region.

The flight ban was part of a battery of penalties inflicted on the Kurds as Baghdad sought to nullify the poll, with federal forces also seizing disputed oil-rich regions.

Baghdad demanded to take over passport control in airports in Kurdistan as well as customs issues.

Arbil had already agreed to that and control of airport security was the last stumbling block, an official told AFP at the end of February when the blockade was extended for another three months.

Abadi met with a Kurdish delegation on Tuesday, a senior Kurdish official confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity, and the two sides agreed that the issues of security and passports would be entrusted to Baghdad.

Baghdad and Arbil have been engaged in a political and territorial struggle since the September 25 independence referendum.

Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces took control of the northern province of Kirkuk, home to key oilfields, in June 2014 after federal forces withdrew in the face of an offensive by the Islamic State group.

Late last year, following the failed independence push, federal forces recaptured the oilfields, severing a key financial lifeline for the Kurds.

This month the Iraqi parliament approved the 2018 budget in the absence of Kurdish lawmakers who boycotted the meeting to protest a cut in the amount allocated to their autonomous region.</s>Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has announced the reopening of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports to international flights.

In a statement, he said he signed the decree “following the response of the local authorities in the Kurdistan region to restore the federal authority to the two airports in accordance with the constitution, in order to facilitate the travel of citizens through Erbil and Sulaimaniyah international airports, The Kurdistan Regional Airports will be under the command and control of the Federal Ministry of Interior.”

Dr. Haider Al-Abadi has said that the system of verification (Paysys) for the airports of the province and its frontier will be linked to the main system in Baghdad, as it is the case in other Iraqi ports and linking the passports and nationality departments and employees at the airports of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah in the Federal Ministry of Interior, according to the law.

He added that a higher committee will be set up to oversee the management of airports in the region and its borders crossings, ensuring compliance with federal standards, including representatives of all concerned authorities in the center and the region and report to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces or authorized person.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi lifts a ban on international air travel to the Kurdistan Region.