UN hails Iraqi PM's first visit to Kurdistan

The top UN envoy in Iraq on Monday welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's first visit to the capital of the autonomous region of the Middle East country 's Kurdistan, describing it as "a positive step in the right direction." The special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Martin Kobler, praised Nuri al-Maliki's visit to Erbil, some 350 kilometers to the north of Baghdad, the national capital of Iraq, and his meeting with president of the Kurdistan Region, Masud Barzani, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said in a press release. "This visit is a positive step in the right direction, which should reflect favorably on the political process," said Kobler, who is also head of UNAMI. Al-Maliki's visit was aimed at breaking the ice between the central and regional governments after months of political deadlock and tensions over distribution of oil wealth and control of disputed areas in the provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk, Salahudin and Diyala, which are located on the edges of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.