Spokesperson refutes Allawi-Barzani agreement for annexing Kirkuk
11/05/2012 15:39ERBIL, May 11 (AKnews)- The report alleging that leader of Iraqiya List and Kurdistan Region president have reached a secret agreement for annexing the oil rich Kirkuk province to Kurdistan are "baseless and suspicious", said Iraqiya spokesperson. 
Maysun al-Damluji's remark was to counter some news published in Arabic websites which allegedly cited the British Observer Magazine and its Robert Douglass as the source.
The websites said that a Kurdish official has told Observer that Ayad Allawi and Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani have worked out the secret agreement.
According to the alleged agreement Allawi had undertaken to assist in annexing Kirkuk, Khanaqin and Mosul plains, all disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil, to Kurdistan.
After contacting the Observer it became clear that the news was not theirs, that the magazine does not have a reporter under Robert Douglass' name and that they have not published any articles about Allawi since 2010.
Damluji described the news "false … fabricated."
She wondered if there is in reality such a top secret agreement how would a Kurdish official know about it and how he would dare to discuss it with an "unknown website."
"Iraqiya refutes the entire news and its details and confirms that it's … baseless.
"Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi does not have such authorities or intentions to reconcile Iraqi lands and cities… such disputes [over land tenure] can be resolved by consensus of the political blocs in the House of Representatives."
Damluji stated that the Iraqiya List will take legal action against the "suspicious" websites and anyone trying to circulate fabricated news to defame her list and its leader Allawi.
By Karwan Yusuf
