Unemployment and conflicts that displace millions in the Middle East are "incubators" for terrorism and leads to illegal migration around the world, Iraq's President Barham Salih warned a conference in Italy on Thursday.

"Legions of unemployed youths, millions of IDPs (internally displaced people) in refugee camps, poverty and conflict are the incubators for terrorism, extremism and... for immigrants fleeing our fertile and rich countries knocking on the doors of Europe," Salih told the MED Dialogue conference in Rome.

"This is an Iraqi interest, this is I daresay a Middle East interest but it is also a European interest and a global interest," he warned.

Iraq has been ravaged by sanctions and conflict for decades, Salih said, noting that his country has "historically been the epicentre of change" in the region, a "precursor for regional order, or disorder."

"We do not have to be condemned to this cycle of violence," Salih said, calling for a regional order based on security and rooted in economic development.

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Saudi king hosts Iraq's new president
Riyadh (AFP) Nov 18, 2018
Saudi King Salman welcomed Iraq's new President Barham Saleh Sunday on his first official visit to the kingdom, amid a warming of ties between the Arab neighbours after years of strain. The king hosted a lunch and "discussed regional developments" with Saleh, the official Saudi Press Agency said, after the Iraqi leader's arrival in Riyadh following a visit to Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran. Saleh, a 58-year-old moderate Kurd elected to the largely ceremonial role last month, was on an overnight ... read more