Iraq Demands More Global Support

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's prime minister says his country's sacrifices fighting the Islamic State group mean it deserves greater support in its reconstruction efforts from the international community.

Adel Abdul-Mahdi made his comments Saturday during a meeting with a visiting U.N. Security Council members' delegation, the first such visit to Iraq.

Iraq declared victory against IS in July 2017, after its military regained control of the country's second-largest city, Mosul, three years after it was seized by extremists bent on building a global caliphate.

The war against IS left many Iraqi cities, towns and villages destroyed and Iraq has been struggling to reconstruct them.

International donors pledged $30 billion to help rebuild Iraq last year, far short of the estimated $88.2 billion needed.

(KA)