Iraqi Kurds end parliament boycott in concession to Baghdad

IRBIL, Iraq – Iraq's Kurdish lawmakers have ended their boycott of the national parliament in an apparent concession to Baghdad after a prolonged military and political standoff following the controversial Kurdish independence vote in September.

Members of parliament from the Kurdish party that spearheaded the referendum campaign returned to Baghdad on Thursday.

They had boycotted the parliament since it voted to declare the Kurdish independence referendum unconstitutional.

The end of the boycott comes on the heels of a decision from the Kurdish regional government this week to accept an earlier federal court ruling that Iraq must remain unified.