 Hello and welcome. I'm Rima Mehtabi coming to you from Davos and we're holding Davos debate for this year and the topic is the title of the session is Iraq and Syria the strategic context. How are security emergencies in both countries reshaping the geoeconomic and geopolitics of the region? Allow me to welcome our guests for this session. Dr. Ayad Allawi, he's the vice president of Iraq and his Royal Highness Prince Tirkel Faisal Al-Soud. He's the chairman of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and the former head of Saudi intelligence. Mr. Roger Chawis, he's deputy prime minister of Iraq and former Peshmerga commander. And Mr. John Baird, he's the minister of foreign affairs of Canada. Welcome to the session. Dr. Allawi, I will start with Iraq, obviously. So there's the coalition and tens of thousands of Shiite militias backed by Iran and also Shiite fighters called Al-Hashd Al-Shabi and the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga Kurdish Peshmerga. All of these are fighting ISIS in Iraq and one nearly third of Iraq is still under the control of ISIS. Why? In English. In English. In Arabic, if you want translation. You can speak in Arabic, if you wish so. Actually, the position with ISIS requires coordination with various parties, the Peshmerga, the coalition forces, et cetera. The required coordination is not available. One adds to the situation, the reconciliation with the people in your school and in other regions occupied by ISIS. This has not been accomplished so far. Hence, the battle for liberation, if I can say, is long and will not be achieved very soon. It will take few months. If basic elements are ensured in the face of ISIS, so far there are two ways to fight ISIS. The first way is the military approach and the attempt to reduce the strength of ISIS. Second, we have to achieve reconciliation amongst Iraqi citizens. In our school, we know that there are many politicized laws that try to marginalize many sectors in society. The environment has to be good in order to fight terrorism. We will discuss the political process and probably the lack of it that led us to this. But Pris al-Faisal, is it today the foreign secretary, the British foreign secretary said that it's going to take a year, maybe two years, to push ISIS back out of Iraq? Can the world afford another year like this in Iraq? In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful, first I would like to ask the colleagues not to give this criminal group the status of a state or of Islam by calling it ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But I would rather prefer if the other friends here present, so would allow me, I would like to call them. Because this is the name that applies to them. What is happening in Iraq and Syria, if we go back to the recent history when Mr. Ayat and his group in the previous elections have been able to achieve a success in elections with a big number of votes. But there was a conspiracy by Iran and unfortunately by the United States in order to keep Noor al-Maliki as prime minister. I think that this is where the situation became complicated. Because in the presence of Noor al-Maliki, who has adopted a very oppressive policy, a policy that oppressed most Sunni citizens, he had disputes with the Kurds in the north on basic issues, thus transforming Iraq into a center to run a change in order to take advantage of the wealth of Iraq and marginalize decision-making in Iraq. This has led citizens in Al-Anbar and other regions of Iraq to have compassion with the Fahish, the Abu-Aminan group, and accept what comes from this group, which was considered to be better from what comes from Noor al-Maliki. If Mr. Ayat had been elected at that time, maybe the situation would have been different in the region and much better than it is now. The statement of the foreign minister of Great Britain comes in that sense, so dealing with ISIS comes in a way as to deal with the symptoms of the disease and not the disease itself. This abominable group exists because of the oppression by Noor al-Maliki towards the Iraqi people. This group is present in Syria because Bashar al-Assad is also acting like a notocratic leader against the people. This is why we have to treat the disease at the basis which is present in Baghdad and Damascus. Hence we have now a program that was announced by the new Iraqi government in order to try to reunite. Iraqi citizens, please allow me to continue. We have to hold this government accountable for its actions. The Iraqi people have a role to play in that, in addition to the international community, because it is in our interest to have accountability for what is happening in Iraq. I will ask you to stick to English. It's the official language of Wef, and this way I won't be the only one speaking English. Don't worry, I'll join you. Yes, please. Otherwise I have to justify to our Arab audience, but it's the official language of Wef. Mr. Shawis, I think you will speak in Arabic, or do you prefer English, whatever is the... If I don't speak in Kurdish, then I'm ready to speak. Is it fair, Mr. Shawis, to say that Nur-e-Maliki is the only problem of Iraq, and his policies and his government led us to this? I would like to go back to your first question, where you mentioned the Iraqi army, the Peshmerga, and the fact that everyone is fighting in addition to the Iraqi forces. All these forces, in fact, are not capable of achieving anything in front of this organized rule. I'm not used to using the term proposed by His Highness Prince Al-Faisal by calling these terrorist fash and abominability, but terrorism is not a local product, especially these groups present in Iraq and Syria. They are not a local product. Only this is not a local organization, but these are organizations that have ramifications in many countries. If not everywhere in the world, they are using methods that are not conventional, that are inspired from old wrong beliefs and traditions, thus leading them to carry out actions that are much more harmful than the actions of other armies or groups. This is why we consider that these methods and these ways used by terrorists have led to this unnatural situation in Iraq more specifically. But what is important here is for us to realize that one of the reasons behind the emergence of terrorist groups in Iraq, especially what has happened in most of the world, but also in various Sunni regions in Iraq, was mainly due to what had happened in Iraq in general. It is not the mistake of one man, but it is a mistake and a trend, a wrong trend that has led to providing a conducive environment which was exported by terrorists. This environment stands from long policies due to the fact that there was a monopoly of power by one country. As a plural country with various religions cannot be governed by one entity. Iraq can only remain as such if its various opponents are represented on the basis of a real partnership. We've just witnessed the first combat on the ground, direct combat between coalition forces, specifically Canadians and ISIS. It happened a few days ago. Does this prove the theory that those air raids are not enough and to liberate Iraq from ISIS, the world and Iraqis and Syrians will need foreign boots on the ground? We're providing some capacity building and training for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. I think we've come a long way in a few short months. They were engaged and responded accordingly. I don't think that there's any one answer to the challenge. His Royal Highness can call it what he does. I call it a cult, a barbaric death cult, but we really need to take a multi-pronged approach. The combat mission I think is important. So too is a genuine inclusive government with an inclusive program out of Baghdad. We've seen progress to date. We should acknowledge that from the new government. More needs to be done. We must continue to go after the financing of Daesh. We must continue to continue to stop foreign fighters from going in. There's a wide range of things we do need to do, but we must attack the sectarianism which has been exacerbated by the past government in Baghdad and by other states or another state and other non-state actors. To me though it is tremendously important that the average, I think the Kurds have the KRG. They have a structure. There's been greater progress I think with the Kurds in recent months. We need to see that same progress with the Sunnis as well. That's more challenging, but the average Sunni has got to feel a greater attachment to their state. I was going to come to that but allow me to interfere here because I just came out of Kurdistan and I was at the outskirts of Moussel and I saw the Peshmerga. I was embedded with them and it's a bit exaggerated. This help, international help to al-Peshmerga and to Kurds. I haven't seen very developed weapons and we haven't seen a lot of foreign advisors on the ground. So what's really happening there? There are Canadian trainers on the ground. I'm sure there's always more that can be done. We've also brought in with heavy-lift capacity a lot of ammunition to support the Kurdish Peshmerga. I think in the West we'd like to see immediate gratification. We'd like to see significant results quickly. This didn't develop overnight. It won't be successfully tackled overnight, but I think if we continue this sustained multi-pronged approach we will meet with success. Dr. Hallawi, all this money that has been spent on the Iraqi army since 2003, all the training, hundreds of thousands of dollars, why did the Iraqi army? More, more. I just want to be humble about the numbers. Let me go back to His Excellency the Ambassador. I believe the war against Daesh requires any intelligence polling of intelligence information to identify the weaknesses and strengths of Daesh, ISIS. Secondly, I think we need special forces to conduct operations, surgical operations to hit at the command and control of ISIS. We have to recognize now that ISIS is spreading. It's not localized now. It's not in Iraq and Syria only. It's spreading to Lebanon. It's spreading to Libya, as far as Libya, spreading to Yemen. And the fight in Iraq is essential to break the back of these terrorist extremists, because otherwise the whole region will be engulfed. Unfortunately, all the help that came from our friends and allies in the world was not useful, but not to the extent that one can get rid of ISIS. I think the key issue here is how we bring the people around to support fighting ISIS. Can you do it without the Sunni tribes? No, it's not the tribes only in Sunni areas. I beg to differ with our friend the Ambassador. I think the Sunnis are disenfranchised. I think the Sunnis, what they see now of the deployment of militia forces and what they see in the ethnic cleansing and sectarian cleansing that is taking place and the fleeing of other components of the Iraqi people, such as Christians and Yazidis, is not going to be encouraging to the Sunnis to take part in fighting ISIS. Yes, but Sunnis themselves are also suffering from sectarian cleansing. The militias, Shiites backed by Iran, are also going into Sunni villages and committing atrocities. Yes, exactly that's what I'm saying. Whenever a tribe has been wiped out nearly? No, in certain areas almost the transparency international I think quoted 130,000 houses have been seized by the militias of Sunnis taken over by Sunnis. So the Sunnis they have to buy into fighting ISIS. What is happening on the theater and the practicality of daily life? The Sunnis are being alienated more and more every day, not only Sunnis but other components with the exception of Kurdistan, which is harboring now what 1.6 million refugees displaced people. It is very difficult without gaining the support of the people, without all the people. Shi'a, Sunnis, Christians, whatever it's going to be very extremely difficult to fight the ISIS on military grounds only. Militarily, we know very well that foot soldiers are required and foot soldiers that are required should be special forces soldiers. Foreign, western? No, Iraqi, Iraqi but special forces. Would you accept that western forces would participate? No, we don't accept western forces. But we're just hearing those quotes that the Iraqis are not ready, not efficient, not incapable of handling them? No, the Iraqis are ready but the political landscape was not helpful to Iraqis to fight extremism. In fact, the environment, the political environment was such as inviting extremism to Iraq rather than expelling extremism. That's why Daesh came to Iraq because Iraq became a soft spot for extremism. Since the dismantlement of the state of Iraq, since the dismantlement of the army, of the police, of the intelligence, Iraq was under the incapable of doing anything. And then the beatification was introduced, then sectarianism was introduced. And this brought and invited a lot of regional powers to intervene in Iraq and to interfere in Iraq. Who are these regional powers? Some of course regional powers including Iran as per the statement of the deputy of Mr. Qasem Soleimani who said that we have armies are fighting in Iraq and we are in control of the political environment in Iraq, which is wrong. It shouldn't be said in this way, although we know that a lot of militias are being supported. But also there are popular people who have joined the struggle against ISIS, who do not belong to Iran. The army unfortunately was denied of its national character. It used to be a professional army, it was dismantled. I retrieved the army and then it was dismantled almost again. So really the army did not have any reason to fight. Yes, but Prince Trekkie, with your military experience and also taking a closer look at the landscape, political landscape of the intelligence one. I'm glad you corrected that. My military experience was confined to volunteering during the Suez war for a three month training course when I was in school. You were the head of Saudi intelligence which has semi-intelligence, semi-military. With this and also taking a closer look at the political landscape in Iraq, do Iraqis need a new social pact? Is it the army that has a problem or the political system, the lack of inclusive policies, a new social pact, a new consensus? Two Maliks we have with us here who have said already that Iraq needs a global reconstruction. It's not just the armed forces, it's the whole political structure. But when you mention military, let me just refer you back to what you said about the British Prime Minister's statement. A curious and very ironic situation we have in both Iraq and Syria is that the coalition, and there is a coalition fighting Fahish, in Syria it is the United States and the Arab countries, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and some contributions from Qatar. And that's it. In Iraq, the coalition Jordan also. In Iraq the coalition is the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, France, Belgium, you name it. What are you trying to say? I'm trying to say that you can't fight a battle with such an improperly organized campaign where you think one front can only be handled by one group of partners and another front handled by another. Why are the Europeans reluctant to bomb Fahish in Syria? They refuse to do it. I've asked Europeans why, nobody answered me. And I know why we're not in the coalition in Iraq. It's because the Iraqi government, the present one under Abadi, doesn't want Arab contribution to fight Fahish in Iraq. They accept Iranian contribution, but not Arab contribution. That's one of the things you have to fix with Abadi. So you want more Saudi involvement in Iraq? Well, not just Saudi. This is a battle for all of us. When, you know, there is a refrain, we heard it after September 11th, 2001, and now it's coming back, which is a clash of civilizations. Today, we are in a clash for civilization. These people that we are fighting, Fahish, are obscene. That's what the word means in Arabic. They kill the innocent. They rape women. They enslave men and women. They teach their children how to chop people's heads off. That is unacceptable. It's an assault on all of us. And to separate between commands in Iraq and commands in Syria and different measures taken in France or in the UK or Madrid or wherever you want, that's what Ayatollah was referring to, that we must share intelligence on these issues. These people operate. You see them recruiting people from everywhere. How come? There are states, there are governments that should be preventing that activity, but because they're not sharing whatever knowledge they have or because of reluctance to operate on one front and not the other, we're in this mess. Allow me to take a short break and come back to this discussion about Iraq and Syria. Okay, let's continue. Yeah, ready. So and welcome back to Davos debate. I'm Rima Mekhtabi and welcome to our guests. I will ask a couple of questions to my guests and then go back to your questions. If you would like to participate in this debate, please get ready. Mr. Baird, ISIS has brought down the borders between Iraq and Syria. Probably it's accurate to say it's Syria. For ISIS, it's just one, probably one body for them. Are we going to witness a spillover? We've seen some of this spillover probably in Europe and some parts of Yemen and also Libya and in the Middle East. Are you dreading a worse scenario for 2015? Listen, I think we've got to recognize that the terrorism inflicted on the Syrian people, against the Iraqi people, will lead to violence elsewhere. A gunman stormed our parliament, was killed 15 meters from where I was. On October 22nd, while not directed, certainly inspired by Daesh. So this is a global phenomenon that requires a global response. I think we've got to understand just as fascism and communism are great struggles that the last century had to confront. This type of terrorism, extremism, is the struggle for this century. And we've got to confront it as such. That's where we've got to attack. It's propaganda. We've got to attack those that would seek to radicalize others in addition to the efforts going on in Iraq and Syria. Mr. Shoiz, there's a general impression in Kurdistan, and I felt it a little bit, that probably now Kurdistan is closer to having its own state with what's happening in Iraq. Sunnis might want their own federation, and probably this will facilitate Kurds to have their own state. And probably Shiite will have their own federation in Iraq. Is this possible at all? Of course, I have mentioned that Iraq is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country for Iraq to remain united. It is necessary for each of these components to feel justice and equality on the basis of the sharing of power participation in power in a real and true manner, so that all the people would feel that they own the country, they live in the country, and their interests are in this country. On this basis, we have drafted the Iraqi constitution, that was supported by 80 percent of the Iraqi population, and what successful in the referendum, this constitution has laid the basis for real solutions to the problems of Iraq and challenges faced by Iraq. So Iraq could remain a democratic and a pluralistic country. Do you still need a state? Yes, of course. As a big group in the region, that amount to approximately 40 million people have the right, like all the peoples of the world, to have their own state and their own status. But at the same time, the Kurds in the Iraqi Kurdistan through the Iraqi constitution has chosen to work for a united democratic Iraq. They still strive in this direction. Prove to that is the active participation of Kurdish figures in the government in Baghdad. Dr. Alawi, will you tell me what you told me on the plane? That it's not the time for the Kurdish state? I'll say it now, but let me first thank His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada for the help they have provided to Iraq, both logistics and weapons, especially to Beish Marge. Regarding Kurdish state? Regarding Kurdistan, no, I spoke to, we have lots of friends in Kurdistan. I agree with Khakar Roj that they ultimately would want to have a state. But the president of the region of Kurdistan, I had a very frank discussion with him, and he said that the time is not right now. I told him the time is not right now, and he agreed that it's not the time to separate and remember Iraq. And let me also add by saying that the Kurdish region is voluntarily part of the Iraqi state, the state of Iraq. They need to be seen as real partners in Iraq. So with a better relationship with Baghdad government, there's no need for a separation? No, I believe so. I believe ultimately if we do the real mixing of justice in Iraq and produce oil and gas law and revenue sharing law and get the Kurds to be part of Iraq, I don't think they'll be thinking of separating, because voluntarily they were part and parcel and still are part and parcel of Iraq. And of course, unfortunately, the governments, the successive governments in Iraq, probably with the exception of my government, was very bad to the Kurds, was very... Fortunately for a short time. But there were a lot of atrocities committed against the Kurds. And of course, this pushed the Kurds to the corner. So it's not the time, Prince... Not the time, no, no. And Mr. Barazzani also indicated to me, and he agreed with me that it's not the time to have a state. He told me something else, but on camera, actually. Tell me what I told you. So it's on camera for our viewers. Prince Turkey, let's look at the big picture. Kurds want their own state, not only in Iraq. Iraq, parts of Syria. They're the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. Syria doesn't look the same. Assad is probably a president for the Alawite region and some of Damascus. Iraq, the Sunnis may want to ask for their own federation. Are we facing a new Saxpico or a new Middle East? The borders are becoming different. I hope not. I agree with Ayad Alawi when he says that this is not the time for separation. Because if you start that ball rolling, it's not going to stop. And not only is it not going to stop, it's going to create conflict. You mentioned the Kurds in Turkey. You mentioned the Kurds in Iran, in Syria. And is it just the Kurds? If you go down to the smaller components of these societies, you can break them down into tribes, into sub-tribes, and so on. And I think if we want more trouble, this is the time to do it now. If we want peace and stability, this is the time to take this gentleman's advice and say that Iraq is composed of different ethnic and sectarian compositions, and they should remain united. And I would just like to mention here, Salah al-Din al-Ayubi, known to the West as Saladin. He was a Kurd. He established a dynasty within the Abbasid Empire called the Ayubid dynasty that lasted for 200 years, having unified all of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula. Egypt, Syria, present Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, parts of present-day Turkey, Iraq, and so on, and Arabia. They were all under Kurdish rule at that time. Nobody not only didn't object, but they welcomed it because he liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders. This is a historical fact, and I think many people among the non-Arabs and the non-Kurds, if you like, don't know how much that resonates within us as Arabs and as Kurds and other components of the Middle East. And my point here is that if we have an Iraq that has all of its components under the same political rights and obligations, what's wrong with having, as already exists, an Iraqi president who is Kurdish? Mr. Barrett, you have a... I think the barbaric evil that we're confronting demands a unity of purpose to confront that evil. The fuel that fires that evil is sectarianism, and the answer is pluralism, where people of different backgrounds, face ethnic origins, can live in peace and harmony. That's why it is so imperative that the central government and Baghdad deliver that kind of inclusive government for all citizens, Kurds, Sunnis, Christians, and others. Well, Mr. Al-Abadi, is he capable of this? Will he be allowed to do that? I think if you give him an interim judgment, I think he's done well. I think more work remains to be done, but I think he's gotten off to a good start. I'd like to open the floor for questions, and please, if you'd like to participate. I'll start with Mr. Janahi. If you can pass the phone, please introduce yourself, and, well, I promised him, Mr. Amr Moussa. He wants to be Mr. Janahi, but he's not. Thank you very much. Couple of people actually were asking, why do we have two people from Iraq on the panel? And since I don't know anything about politics or diplomacy, so I had to think a bit of logic. I said, well, because of Arabia, they know something that we don't know, that Kurdistan will be independent very shortly, and he would confirm that. I think once we talk, this is actually a very important session. Two years ago, we had a similar session about Syria. At that time, we had 100,000 people being killed, and our focus was Bashar al-Assad. He was the bad guy. Everybody was going to Bashar al-Assad. There was no talk about Fahish, and actually, I would love to see Mr. Obama how he's going to abbreviate Fahish. That would be an interesting thing. So, I mean, the things have changed ever since. Meanwhile, once we're having this discussion, 250,000 people dead, and they are increasing. We have half of Syria displaced. We have Mosul today, and I would like to bring this to Mr. Al-Alawi. We have Mosul today, who are the people, apparently, living in a much better situation than they were three years ago, four years ago. They have security. They have food. They sleep at night freely. They don't have problems, which means Fahish is doing, apparently, from a people perspective, a better job than the people before. What's the question? The question is, where are we going? I mean, we talked two years ago, this was a proxy war. I think, without the regional powers coming together, how are we going to go forward? How are we going to be in two years down the road, 500,000 dead? Mr. Bashar al-Assad is still there, and Mr. Al-Alawi is still having Mosul, Erbil, whatever, whatever, coming under Fahish. Thank you. Please, Mr. Al-Alawi, please. The question is yours, but briefly. Thank you. Anyway, ISIS is getting stronger. It's not true that they have lost control in Syria and are losing control in Iraq. They are spreading letters, face the facts, as they are. We have a very venomous, full with venom, people who want to die for a cause. And opposite them, there are theaters which are not intact, theaters, political landscapes which are dented, fell with problems, and of course, they are finding their own way. They are now rising in Libya because there is a breakdown in law and order. They are working in Yemen because there is a breakdown in law and order. And indeed, they have targeted the soft spot, which is Iraq. And without really an effort to get things moving by developing a strategy, a structured strategy, to face ISIS, not only in Iraq and Syria, globally, then I think it wouldn't work that we cannot control ISIS. The war will continue, and as it continues, it will develop more and more people will be recruited by ISIS. Would this mean ousting Assad a major political change in Iraqi system, political system? Probably the GCC country is taking certain drastic steps. Reforms, political reforms. No, I'm talking about the GCC probably stopping the flow of some of its nationals into Syria. What volume are they carrying? My Kuwait has been probably hesitant to take some of these steps. The international community also is changing some measures. We don't have a strategy, a collective strategy in the Arab world. We don't have a collective strategy in the Islamic world. We don't have a collective strategy in the world at large. I know that there are spots here and there of helping Iraq, of giving some arms, of training some people. But I am talking here about the strategy which is facing the world. Yes. We have seen what happened in France. It's inspired by ISIS. And ISIS is hitting very hard. And today we met with our Libyan brothers, and they are talking about the presence of ISIS and Libya. Yes. Let me pass more questions to the audience, and we'll just collect few questions and have the answers. The lady on the first front, first role. Hello, everyone. I'm Bewar from Kurdistan, and I'm with the Global Shapers. Well, my question is directed to most of you. And the thing that I want to address is that sometimes, actually in my eyes, I can see that the main problem with Iraq is the unity, actually. The unity that everyone claims that we have to keep. Because we all know that during Saddam Hussein, like the unity was unified, like Iraq was unified, and the force, right? Like, she didn't have any right. Kurdistan didn't have any right. But when Saddam was out of power, you could see that there was civil war. Everyone wanted to have a part of Iraq. So don't you think that the unity is actually the problem of Iraq? Don't you think that it's the poison to Iraq, the unity that we all claim that, yes, Iraq should be united? If it is really the solution, so what are the tools to actually make Iraq united? What are the tools that you can think of in a long term to make Iraq actually united and keep everyone happy? Okay. Thank you. I'll also pass the microphone, please, to the lady. Can you introduce yourself? Sure. I'm Sara Alawi. I have a question for... She's your daughter, but I decided to give her a chance anyway. I was going to say for anyone who didn't realize I'm Dr. Alawi's my father. What's your question? I have a question for his royal highness, Turkey Al-Faisal. You spoke of this Iraqi government and that it should be held accountable by the Iraqi people and also by the international community, clearly so because the international community has been dismissive of Iraq in the last few years and its early warning signs, which have resulted in instability, not just in Iraq, but in the region. How will such accountability be implemented to curb such contagion spreading? Mr. Key, thank you. You said you wanted to ask some questions, but anyway I'll take this. How did this present government come to power? He was through the work of Iraqis, but also through the work of the international community. The mainstay for Nouriel Maliki when he was in power were not the Iraqi people. They were mostly the support that he was getting from Iran on one side and from the United States and European governments on the other side. And when that support disappeared from Nouriel Maliki, you had the opportunity of the formation of a national unity government that includes opponents or former opponents of Nouriel Maliki, maybe still are. And others who will contribute, obviously, hopefully, to the betterment of the situation in Iraq. And that's what I meant by holding this present government accountable. Because what happens in Iraq, as Dr. Alawi said, affects all of us. Yes. And so we need to be watching and telling our Iraqi friends in government that if they don't do things right, then the international community has a responsibility to advise them and to hopefully work with them in overcoming whatever difficulties they can have. Yes. Mr. Barrett, quickly, please. I'd like you to answer the question of the lady at the front row about the unity. Looking from a Western point of view, do you think that the Iraqis need to revise their whole political system? I think it's the evil that they've got to confront must take priority. It is immediate and all the energy should be going into confronting that. And to confront that, they need to have a government that governs for every Iraqi. Not just an inclusive government with an inclusive program, but people have got to feel that on the ground. I think, as I said, I think they've made good success with the Kurdish population. I think more work remains to be done with the Sunnis. But that is tremendously important. We've got to, if there's any sympathy or goodwill that the average Sunni family may have for Daesh on the ground, we must obviously seek to pull them away. I'll open the floor for a couple of more questions, and then we will discuss the regional influence. I just want to... Quickly, please. I want to comment on His Royal Highness Ben Sturkey's statement. The all groups, political groups in Iraq and parliamentary groups, have agreed on a roadmap forward. And this roadmap, nothing of this roadmap have been implemented as far until now. And we hope that this is going to be the issue that would transform Iraq from where it was to something solid and united. Yes. But we are looking forward to the implementation of this roadmap that all parties have agreed to. And we'll see, and those who are holding the government accountable, that they are going to agree on this because they have signed their roadmap. Please, can you pass the mic to the gentleman in the third row? Thank you. Peter Goodman with the International Business Times. For Vice President Alawi, is your government now sharing intelligence with the Saudis? And if not, why not? You mean the Iraq government is not sharing intelligence with anybody here? In fact, only with the a bit with the British and a bit with the Americans. But as far as me is concerned, what my information says that there is no sharing of intelligence with the Arab countries as yet. This is because, and I think this is the case. I think this is when I spoke about pulling intelligence, which is very important. It's not happening until now. Still taking place. Why not? Why not? Why not? Because there is no will to pull the information. And the international allies also are not part of the information to pulling the intelligence. There is no intelligence gathering at all in the region. Dr. Alawi, allow me to open the floor for more questions. I don't know if anyone from this side would like to participate. There's also someone at the back this side. My name, we got the live mic. Yes, we do. I'm Granville Byford. I'm a writer. It seems to me that there's an empty chair here that might be occupied by the Iranians. And I'd like to ask his Royal Highness a question. Could Saudi Arabia cooperate with the Iranians on this issue? And if so, on what basis? I'll pass also the floor for more questions because we'll be discussing the regional influence in Iraq. There's a lady in the second floor in the second row here. Thank you. I am Amzin Khalifa from Tunisia and I would like to tell you that all what's happening in Syria and Iraq not only affect you but obviously us in Tunisia because our brother and sisters are being slaughtered but also because our youth that are hopeless think that they can go and fight and dash better than stay and live peacefully in my country. We are hearing a lot about security and military answers to fight terrorism. This is to me like trying to contain a vase that has already overflowed. It's definitely necessary but in parallel are we trying to think what are the profound reasons of why a terrorist becomes a terrorist? Why does a young Arab think that it's better to go and die for Daesh? Yes. And I think that why we have such illness in our all societies that produce predisposes young people to be brainwashed? Thank you. I think we need to think globally but act in every context. Thank you. I'm running out of time. Thanks a lot for your question. We have five minutes and I would need a quick answer from each one of you. Prince Turkey, the regional influence. So why don't the Saudis and Iranians sit together and talk and maybe that's probably for the better of the region? When the gentleman asked the question before we came on this stage I asked our moderator why isn't there an Iranian representative? And she said they refuse to come. And basically that is the fault not of Saudi Arabia but of Iran. And basically that is the problem that we have with Iran. The kingdom has always extended a hand of friendship to Iran and to the Iranian people. If you look back on all of our engagements with Iran and more recently with the Rouhani government when he was elected the king sent him a congratulatory note an invitation was extended to his foreign minister to come and visit. He never did and his excuse was that if I don't meet the king I'm not coming. Well, too bad. You didn't meet the king so you didn't come but if you wanted good relations with us we'll be happy to talk with you. Yes. Finally he met with our foreign minister in New York and I imagine and I wasn't present at the meeting that they exchanged lists of complaints about what each country is doing to the other and I think Iranian engagement is important but they have to show seriousness in meeting our concerns. Our concerns are as Dr. Alawi said the deputy to General Suleymani boasting that he has armies in four Arab countries that they control for Arab capitals. This is public statements by Iranian officials. Yes. It's not something that I invented or that came out on the internet with no reference. So that is the problem with how Iran interacts with us and how we would like to see them remove their presence from the Arab countries because they're an instigator of trouble. They're not pacifiers there. Thank you. They're instigators of trouble. Thank you. A word for Mr. Beard. I have great respect for the Iranian people. They have a great history and can play a big role in the region and internationally but the current regime in Tehran is playing a very negative and destructive role in just about every single country in the region. Their material and tangible support for Assad has led to tens of thousands people being killed. Their influence in Iraq has been to be charitable incredibly negative. Their material support for terrorism throughout the region is incredibly destabilizing. We'd extend the hand to the government in Tehran if they choose to take a different approach a different approach to foreign relations but they're part of the problem not part of the solution. Mr. Shawis is it a proxy war? Mr. Rajanahi mentioned a proxy war you obviously we've discussed all the problems within the Iraqi society but we cannot deny that the influence the regional influence and the balance of power is shifting and changing currently is it a proxy war? In Iraq I believe that Iraq is facing a number of specific challenges these days. The first challenge is terrorism. The second challenge is our humanitarian crisis. We have huge numbers of IDPs and refugees and the third challenge is the decrease in oil prices. These are tremendous challenges facing Iraq nowadays in addition to all those challenges that we have inherited from the previous regime. That is why I say that Iraq as a country needs political stability. Iraq needs mutual understanding between its different political factions and between its different constituent components and we need cooperation with all countries in the region and in the world. The last word is you I just have a couple of minutes only. Will Iraq be at peace without regional stability without real dialogue? No, no, no this is where we be when Iraq was under mind the region went past all of the region and it was followed by of course Syria and now Egypt unfortunately Egypt is reviving itself Tunisia have revived itself but we still have a major problem in the region and we have to deal with each other whether we like it or not and that's why I personally have called and I'm convincing the Iraqi government to call for a regional conference to sit down and look everybody in the face and say what is wrong and what is right and assure and listen to their anxieties and also they have to listen to our anxieties without this I think the region is going to be exploding more than it is now and all countries will be engulfed by the fire and that's I think it's high time now for the whole region to get together and sit down and talk reasonably without hesitation and to find solutions based on two pillars the first is non-interference and respecting sovereignty not interference in internal matters and secondly the balanced benefits and training benefits special thanks to my guests and to you for joining us and to our viewers we were with you from Davos and we discussed this Iraq and Syria the strategic context thank you for watching