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

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.”

Salih, who became president in October 2018, stressed the urgency of the crisis of unemployment, both in Iraq and throughout the region.

“We also should share an abiding interest in creating job opportunities for our legions of unemployed youth,” said Salih. “This matter cannot go on like this.”