Sri Sri Ravi Shankar discusses rehabilitation plans with Kurdistan PM

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has met the Prime Minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, and discussed plans to psychologically rehabilitate war-ravaged people.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that he plans to teach yoga and meditation to a group of war-weary Iraqis, whom he hopes will extend their new-found inner peace to their nation.

The Islamic State (IS) has caused international alarm by capturing large expanses of Iraq and Syria, declaring an Islamic 'caliphate' that extends across the border between the two.

"People are psychologically traumatised here. What can we do to take people out of the psychological trauma? There are 15 lakh refugees at this small place. They have lots of grievances. We have many things to do. We discussed how to unite this divided society and take them forward together," he said.

Dressed in flowing white robes and with a long black beard and long hair and one of the world's most popular spiritual leaders, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's teachings are based on ancient principles of yoga, but he has added elements of his own and aligned it with meditation techniques.

Iraqi leaders are under pressure to bury differences in order to counter Islamic State militants who control substantial parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

There are about five million Kurds in majority Arab Iraq, which has a population of more than 30 million. Most live in the north, where they run their own affairs, but remain reliant on Baghdad for a share of the national budget.

Western powers see the Kurds as a vital bulwark against further IS advances.