Baker team's Iraq blueprint rejected by Kurdish leader
Mr Barzani, president of the 15-year-old autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and a staunch ally of the US, also criticised the ISG for not visiting his region, saying that was a "major shortcoming that adversely influenced the credibility of the assessment".
Mr Barzani said the high-profile panel led by the former US secretary of state James Baker, which released its report on Wednesday, had ignored a letter he sent it outlining Kurdish views. "It seemed as if they had not read it at all," he said.
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Hide AdHe went on: "We think that the Iraq Study Group has made some unrealistic and inappropriate recommendations for helping the US to get out of these difficulties [in Iraq]. We are in no way abiding by this report."
Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, who is also a Kurd, agreed with Mr Barzani's assessment, saying some of the report's recommendations ran contrary to his country's national interests.
Mr Barzani particularly criticised the ISG's calls for a far-reaching amnesty for opposition groups and the reinstatement of Saddam Hussein's loyalists to their old government jobs as part of national reconciliation efforts.