ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani asked the international community on Sunday to provide the Kurds with weapons to bolster their battle against Islamic State militants, whose dramatic push through the north has alarmed Baghdad and Western countries.

Speaking at a press conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Barzani said: "We are not fighting a terrorist organisation, we are fighting a terrorist state."

(Reporting by Isabel Coles; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Larry King)