Baghdad halts cargo flights to Kurdish cities

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Authorities in Baghdad have halted cargo flights to the Kurdish cities of Arbil and Sulaimaniya, the top aviation official said on Thursday, in an escalating row between the Shi'ite-led central government and Kurdish leaders. "At present we stopped the shipment of cargo to both Arbil and Sulaimaniya until further notice," the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority Nasser Bandar told Reuters. He said passenger flights were unaffected. (Reporting by Raheem Salman; Editing by Janet Lawrence)