Barzani calls for EU support of political process in Iraq

The European Parliament's Committee of Foreign Affairs Tuesday exchanged views with President of the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq, Massoud Barzani, on the situation in Iraq and Syria. "We have a request, and that is to support the political process in Iraq, to push towards more democracy, to guarantee the constitution, to fight terrorism in Iraq as well," Barzani told the committe. "Unfortunately, terrorism has become something that discourages the entire world. We have suffered bitterly from terrorism but we will continue to struggle against terrorists," said Barzani in reply to question posed by some Members of the European Parliament. He noted that Iraq has offered all the possible aid, from the humanitarian point of view, to "our Syrian brothers who arrived in Kurdistan, that's our humanitarian duty, and our national Arab duty. "As regards relations with Iraq and Syria, what can the alternative be concerning Syria - at the moment it is not clear," he said. "Democratic forces of the free Syrian army will be the alternative to the regime in Syria. There are terrorist organisations which are calling the tune so we have to be very cautious and in no case should we authorise entry of organisations linked to Al-Qaeda, we don't want them to be active on our borders. It is a direct threat to our province," added Barzani.