Rice Presses Iraqi Kurdish Leader on Reconciliation

赖斯促伊拉克库尔德领袖和解

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has pressed Iraq's Kurdish leaders to work with Sunni Arab and Shi'ite leaders for a unified and democratic country. Rice met Friday in Irbil with Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraq's northern Kurdish autonomus region. She thanked him for the Kurds' long cooperation with the United States. She also urged Barzani to work with the government in Baghdad to resolve the issue of sharing Iraq's oil wealth. Barzani said he was committed to a "democratic Iraq and the federal system." He said he favors fair distribution of revenues for all the Iraqi people.

Rice's visit comes amid increasing tensions in Iraq over the control of the country's oil resources. A substantial portion is in the Kurdish region.

美国国务卿赖斯敦促伊拉克库尔德族领导人与逊尼派和什叶派领导人共同建设一个统一民主的国家。星期五，赖斯在埃尔比勒城会见了伊拉克北部库尔德自治地区总统巴尔扎尼，为库尔德人长期与美国合作而对他表示感谢，并敦促他与巴格达政府解决共享伊拉克石油资源的问题。巴尔扎尼表达了对建立一个“民主的伊拉克和联邦制”的承诺。他说他主张在全体伊拉克人民中公平分配国家收入。 

赖斯访问之际，控制石油资源的问题导致伊拉克局势日益紧张。相当一部份石油资源位于库尔德地区。