Palestine leader in Iraq’s Kurd region

Agence France-Presse

"We did not need any invitation to visit this brotherly nation and we have felt for a long time that the doors were always open to us, without even needing to make an appointment," Abbas said at a joint news conference.

"The president Barzani was not even told of our visit until 24 hours beforehand, and he said, ’Ahlan wa Sahlan,’" Abbas said, using the common Arabic form of greeting. Barzani, for his part, praised Abbas for being the first "president" to visit the autonomous region in northern Iraq. "We are used to our Palestinian brothers always being in the forefront of aiding our people, in the past and present," he said.

Consulate to open in Arbil
"This visit will cement the relationship between our two peoples with their similar suffering. Just as he is the first president to visit the region, we expect and we hope that the Palestinian consulate will be the first consulate to open in Arbil."

Abbas' trip came one week after he held talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, in Baghdad, in what was the first visit to Iraq by a Palestinian leader. Abbas the president of the Palestinian Authority and Barzani is the president of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.