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BAGHDAD, Dec. 27-- The Iraqi researcher Khalaf Ayyash Ahmed has obtained the first master's degree in Iraq on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by virtue of a thesis titled Geo-strategic Importance of the Silk Road and its Impacts on the Future of Iraq. "What motivated me to research on this important topic is the great importance of the Belt and Road Initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which made it an urgent necessity to confront the looming economic weakness and the complex regional and international conditions," Ahmed told Xinhua on Friday. "The importance of the Belt and Road Initiative for Iraq lies in investing in the infrastructure that Iraq needs as a result of its collapse because of the economic sanctions and successive wars," he explained. Ahmed hailed the peaceful intentions of the Chinese foreign policy as "a strong impetus to the Arab-Chinese partnership." "Iraq's location in the middle of the continents of the ancient world gives it great geo-strategic importance because it is located on the transportation routes between those continents," he noted. Ahmed submitted his BRI-related thesis to the government-owned Al Iraqia University and got a very good grade by the scientific discussion committee. | 
