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Iraqi president gives priority to job opportunities for youth, calls corruption 'political economy of conflict'

Iraqi President Barham Salih, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, says that in the present climate "talking about another war is just madness."
Iraq's president Barham Salih addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - HP1EF9P126TEO

Iraqi President Barham Salih is considering convening a meeting of Iraq’s neighbors, beginning with a focus on a “common regional interest” in Iraq’s stability and economic prosperity.

“We do want to have a conversation in Baghdad starting with a focus on what is a major point of agreement, Iraq’s stability and prospects for prosperity and economic regeneration, which is a common regional interest,” Salih said in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. “We hope this will be an important confidence-building measure, and it could be an opportunity, a catalyst for a wider regional arrangement.”

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