Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, a longtime Washington ally, has angrily rejected the Iraq Study Group

recommendations, warning that any delay in deciding the fate of an oil-rich region the Kurds claim would have "grave consequences."

Barzani, president of the 15-year-old autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, also faulted the US Bipartisan commission for not visiting his region, saying that was a "major shortcoming that adversely influenced the credibility of the assessment." (AP)