EU signs deal with Iraq to combat ‘radicalism’

By Adam Moro

BAGHDAD

The Iraqi government on Thursday signed a $12-million deal with the European Union ostensibly aimed at combating “radicalism”.

Following a signing ceremony, Iraqi Planning Minister Salman al-Jameeli told reporters that the agreement was part of the EU’s ongoing support for war-battered Iraq.

The two-year agreement, the minister explained, was aimed primarily at fighting the spread of “radicalism” among disaffected Iraqi youth.

Last December, Baghdad signed more than $91 million worth of agreements with the EU for the rehabilitation of areas liberated from Daesh, which overran vast swathes of northern and western Iraq in mid-2014.