By NNN-IRNA
Baghdad : Iraqi President Jalal Talabani arrived in Najaf on Feb 9 2008 to meet Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
Talabani and Ayatollah Sistani would review the country’s latest political and security developments. Talabani had visited Kirkuk province last week to discuss the status of the province with local officials.
The issue of Kirkuk’s inclusion into the Iraqi Kurdistan and finding appropriate solution to the issue were major topics discussed by Talabani officials of Kirkuk and it would be top of the agenda in talks between Talabani and Ayatollah Sistani.
In late December 2007, lawmakers in Iraq’s largely autonomous Kurdish region approved a six-month delay in a referendum to decide the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which is claimed by Kurds and Arabs.
The Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad has made no preparations, including a census, to hold it, and Washington, more concerned about easing sectarian violence elsewhere in the country, has largely adopted a hands-off approach.
Iraq’s minority Kurds, who control the Kurdistan region, see Kirkuk, which sits on one of the world’s largest oil fields, as their historical capital. Arabs encouraged to move there under Saddam Hussein want it to remain under control of Baghdad.