Iraq PM al-Abadi ‘doesn't want armed clash with Kurds’

Iraq’s prime minister said on Thursday he does not want an armed clash with Kurdish Iraqi authorities, Reuters reports. In a statement alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Haider al-Abadi also urged Peshmerga forces in disputed areas to work with Iraqi security forces under the control of the central government. “We do not want an armed confrontation, we don’t want clashes, but the federal authority must prevail and nobody can infringe on the federal authority,” the PM said. “I call on the Peshmerga to remain an integral part of the Iraqi forces under the authority of the federal authorities, to guarantee the security of citizens,” he said.