US Secretary of State John Kerry has made an unannounced visit to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region as part of an urgent diplomatic drive to stop the fractious country tearing apart.
A day after meeting Iraqi Arab leaders in Baghdad to discuss a lightning assault by Sunni militants, the top US diplomat landed in Arbil to urge Iraqi Kurdistan's president, Massud Barzani, to work to uphold Iraq's cohesion.
Kerry would highlight "the important role that the Kurds can play in helping the central government address... challenges for the benefit of all Iraqis," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
The militant offensive has cleared the way for Iraqi Kurds - who were once gassed by former dictator Saddam Hussein - to take control of a swathe of disputed territory they want to incorporate into their autonomous region over Baghdad's strong objections.
Crucially, their security forces are now responsible for securing the ethnically mixed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the heart of that disputed territory.
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"Now we are living a different era," Barzani told CNN ahead of Tuesday's talks, as he called for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom he described as "the one responsible for what has happened" in Iraq, to step down.
"During the last 10 years we did everything in our ability... to build a new democratic Iraq, but unfortunately the experience has not been successful."
Pressed on whether Iraqi Kurds would seek independence, Barzani said: "The time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold."
"Iraq is obviously falling apart anyway, and it's obvious that a federal or central government has lost control over everything."
Sunni insurgents, led by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, have pressed their offensive by seizing the strategic town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq, while security forces retook a border crossing with Syria from the militants on Monday.
Iraqi forces are struggling to hold their ground in the face of the drive, which has seized major areas of five provinces.
