Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said
Thursday it is time to rebuild Iraq after concentrating on securing peace in
the country for several years.
"We managed to lessen violence in the country and are still working
on it", Maliki said.
"What Iraq needs now is international companies to carry out
reconstruction projects and improve the country's infrastructure,"
al-Maliki was quoted by the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.
He added "we are not suffering from shortage of fund for electricity and
water projects, yet international states banned its companies from entering
Iraq due to insecurity and lack of financial guarantees".
"The government deposited funds into bank accounts of big international
companies to make them feel more secure about working in service projects for
the country," al-Maliki said at the provincial council in the southern
city of Najaf.
The Iraqi PM said that Iraq's budget for improving infrastructure in Iraq
reached 48 billion dollars this year.
Al-Maliki went to Najaf on Thursday to meet Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Al-Maliki said that al-Sistani expressed his support
of the government measures taken to impose the rule of law.
Al-Maliki noted that al-Sistani stressed that only government forces would be
carrying weapons to ensure security.
The Iraqi PM has recently launched two major offensives in Basra and Mosul to
crack down on violence wracking the two provinces.
Al-Sistani, who lives in the holy city of Najaf, is a recluse who rarely makes
public appearances. But he wields considerable political influence and has a
spiritual authority over the country's Shiites.
Al-Sistani backs al-Maliki's Shiite United Iraqi Alliance but
he also promotes national reconciliation and the integration of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority into the political process, dpa reported.