"Almost impossible" for Iraq to return to status quo, say Iraqi Kurd PM

It will be "almost impossible" for Iraq to return to how it was before recent sweeping gains by jihadist fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the prime minister of the Kurdistan region warned on Tuesday.

Nechirvan Barzani told the BBC it would be difficult to find a resolution with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in power and recommended an autonomous region for Sunnis as a potential solution.

"Now we have to sit down and find a solution, find how to live together... but if we expect, if we think that Iraq will go back like before Mosul, I don't think so, it's almost impossible."

He said a political rather than military solution was needed to the unrest, taking account of Sunnis' feeling of being "neglected" by government policies.

Asked whether a solution was possible with Maliki in power, he said: "There is no trust right now we have to be honest... in my view it's difficult."