Davos: The fight against Daesh needs a structured strategy involving the entire Arab world, as well as the Muslim and global community, said Ayad Allawai, Vice-President of Iraq.

“We do not have a coordinated strategy at present,” said Allawai.

The current piecemeal approach has created a dangerous lack of any coherent response to Daesh, which was brought into sharp focus at the session on Iraq and Syria — moderated by Al Arabiya TV — at the World Economic Forum.

Iraq should call for a regional conference involving all players which would be based on the two principles of non-interference in other states, and balanced and inclusive benefits for all people, said Allawai.

He also called for immediate sharing of intelligence by all interested parties. At the moment Iraq shares it with the US and UK, but not with Saudi Arabia, as he insisted intelligence pooling was an important first step for wider success against Daesh.

“We are in a mess,” said Prince Turki Al Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Centre and former head of Saudi Intelligence. “We all need to be fighting the barbaric Daesh as they kill, rape, enslave people, and even teach their children how to cut off people’s heads.

“But we have two different military alliances against Daesh. In Iraq the government has been joined by more than 50 nations, but there are some important absences like Saudi Arabia which has not been asked to be in the coalition. In Syria some Gulf states — including Saudi Arabia — are working with the US to support the opposition, but no one else is there.

“You cannot fight a battle with such a disorganised campaign. So I ask the why will the coalition not fight Daesh in Syria. And why is Iraq not willing to accept Arab help?”

The panel agreed that an important part of any success against Daesh was to foster inclusive government. The need for all Iraqis to feel that their government represents them was put forcefully by Rowsch Shaways, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and a former Peshmerga commander.

“We drafted the constitution to be inclusive, and it was passed by a huge referendum,” said Shaways. “A pluralist Iraq cannot be governed by one entity. It can only be governed by all groups acting together.”

The dramatic weakening of the state due to the sectarian government of Nouri Al Maliki was identified by all the speakers. Prince Turki said “after Allawi won an election, there was a conspiracy from the US and Iran to let Nouri Al Maliki take office, which he did and launched his oppressive policies and triggered disputes with the Kurds, turning the Baghdad government into a centre which seized Iraq’s wealth.

“Fighting Daesh is only dealing with the symptoms of the problem. The root cause is sectarian and oppressive governments, like those of Nouri Al Maliki and Bashar Al Assad.”

The multi-pronged strategy of the coalition in Iraq was summed up John Baird, Foreign Minister of Canada, whose troops in Kurdistan had just been attacked by Daesh forces and had returned fire despite being in Kurdistan in a purely supporting role to Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

“We are capacity building and the military mission is important, but the actions also must include the Iraqis preparing and delivering inclusive government, international efforts to chase down and stop the finances of Daesh, and stopping foreign fighters going in,” said Baird.

“We have to recognise that this terror is a global phenomenon and will spread. In Canada, a gunman went into parliament only a few yards from where I was sitting. This is the struggle of the century.”