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British FCO Travel Advice Changes to Reflect
Differences in the Region Administered by the
Kurdistan Regional Government
The stability of the Kurdistan region of Iraq has
been recognised by the British Government in a
change to its travel advisory issued at the
beginning of April.
The revision takes into account that the relatively
safe region in the north of Iraq that is
administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
can not be referred to in the same context as the
rest of Iraq. The new advice highlights that the
state of emergency declared in Iraq and recently
extended by a further 30 days does not include the
KRG administered region. The KRG administered region
covers the governorates of Duhok, Erbil & Suleimani.
Ms Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, KRG High Representative
to the UK said “We welcome the changes to the
British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s travel
advice, which are a testament to the stable and
secure situation in Kurdistan compared with the rest
of Iraq. The safety of our region has been secured
thanks to the co-ordinated efforts of our security
forces and our peshmerga.”
Ms Rahman added: “Although welcome, the new travel
advice does not go far enough. Foreign businesses
and journalists are welcomed in Kurdistan and not a
single Coalition soldier has been killed in the KRG
administered area since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s
regime. We hope that, in time, the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office will make further changes to its
travel advice to reflect this reality.”
Source: Kurdistan Development Corporation (London)
11 April, 2005 see
http://www.kurdistancorporation.com
Please note: changes to this travel advisory were
made on the 5th of April 2005. Any persons
travelling from the UK to Iraq are still advised to
refer to FCO advice prior to travel. This can be
found at www.fco.gov.uk
www.krg.org
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