deal for purchasing ammunition and weaponry should be subject to prior approval of the Iraqi Council of Representatives but the government has so far violated this constitutional requirement, said a member of the security and defense committee.

The entire deals for arms purchase which the government has signed with the foreign countries are done without consulting the Council of Representatives, said Kurdish member of the committee Shwan Mohammed.

Mohammed said Baghdad government is purchasing arms from the US but since Washington has conditioned that the weaponry should not be used against the US and the Iraqi peoples, Baghdad is also trying to buy from Russia as it imposes no conditions on its sale.

The MP said the committee of security and defense has prepared its report which warns the US that it should not sell weaponry to a country which violates the constitution.

Baghdad is trying to empower the armed forces and has so far signed a number of deals, most prominently a deal with the US for purchase of F16 fighter jets. This week the first fleet of the US F16 arrived in Baghdad.















LL/AKnews