| 2007: 210 billion dinars for Anbar reconstruction efforts -deputy PM |
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Baghdad, Jun 20, (VOI) – The Iraqi government allocated 210 billion Iraqi dinars for reconstruction in Anbar province, which has been devastated by terrorist attacks and military operations, Iraq's Kurdistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said on Wednesday. "Nearly 77 billion Iraqi dinars will be allocated to economic projects and 135 billion to the provincial development budget," Saleh said in a cabinet meeting attended by a number of Iraqi ministers, the Anbar governor and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. "Anbar is now ready for reconstruction after a dramatic security transformation took place with the help of tribes, which purged the province of al-Qaeda-related terrorist factions," Saleh said in a statement released after the meeting. In the name of the Iraqi government, Saleh vowed to provide help and support for reconstruction efforts in the province, urging Iraqi officials and the ministers concerned to help the Anbar municipal council speed up the implementation of economic projects in an attempt to eradicate rising unemployment in the province. During the meeting, Anbar governor Mamoun Sami Rashid estimated the damage to residential buildings from terrorist attacks and military operations at $300 million, and submitted a number of reconstruction projects proposed by the municipal council. He also called for rebuilding the road linking Anbar province to Syria and Jordan, citing its significant importance to the local Iraqi economy. Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Muhammad Jassem, who attended the meeting, revealed that two divisions from the Iraqi army are currently deployed in Anbar to protect the province from terrorist operations and to pave the way for reconstruction. The U.S. envoy reiterated his country's support for Anbar's municipal council and the Anbar Awakening Council for rebuilding the province. "The security situation in Anbar improved in the past six months thanks to the campaign led by the Anbar Awakening Council and the municipal council, in addition to joint efforts to purge the province of al-Qaeda-related groups," Crocker said. |