Lobbying for Solitude, Oil

The Iraqi Kurdish region's "leaders try to project a united front in Baghdad and abroad, but few Kurds in the north or Arabs in the south have forgotten that" the Kurdish Democratic Party and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan "spent four of their Saddam-free years fighting a civil war." Now, the KDP "has retained Barbour Griffith & Rogers as its lobbyist to ensure that Iraqi Kurdistan maintains its autonomy" and to push for "the return of oil-rich Kirkuk," reports O'Dwyer's PR Daily. Former Bush I assistant Ed Rogers will be the KDP's chief lobbyist, along with International Republican Institute founder Keith Schuette.