July 22, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1424

ARBIL, July 21: US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has held talks in Iraqi Kurdistan with officials of the two Kurdish groups that control northern Iraq, a party spokesman said on Monday.

Mr Wolfowitz’s talks, on Sunday, focused on “how the situation in Iraq was developing and the importance of the Kurdish role in restoring democracy in the country,” a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official said.

KDP chief Massoud Barzani and officials from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), whose leader Jalal Talabani is overseas, attended the talks in Salaheddin, said Barzani aide Fadel Mirani.

“The two sides discussed several issues, including the (recent) formation of the Iraqi Governing Council and developments on the ground, chiefly on the security front,” Mirani said.

“They concurred on (the need for) US troops to remain in Iraq to preserve security and stability as well as the country’s unity,” he said.—AFP