Iraq on Saturday took delivery of the first 11 of 140 American M1A1 Abrams tanks, just weeks before the US military ends its combat mission here and pulls thousands of its troops out of the country.

The remainder of the order will be completed by the end of 2011, when the US military is due to leave Iraq under the terms of a bilateral security pact.

"Today, Iraq received 11 US-made tanks as part of an agreement with the US to hand over 140 tanks to the Iraqi army," defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.

"This step is part of preparations by Iraqi forces to take over security responsibilities and build a strong army as the US withdraws.

"This delivery will help to form the military's first armoured division since 2003."

In a press statement on August 1, the US army said the tanks would be used on a training site in the Besmaya military base on Baghdad's southeastern outskirts, which was officially handed back to Iraq at the end of last month.

According to the US army, Iraqi soldiers have been instructed on how to operate the Abrams tanks since 2009, with 60 crews having so far been trained.

The tanks are expected to be used by the 9th Iraqi Army Mechanised Division stationed in the centre of the country.

earlier related report

Serbia delivers first military planes to Iraq: ministry
Belgrade (AFP) Aug 6, 2010 –

Serbia has delivered the first three of 20 military training aircraft to Iraq as part of a 100-million-dollar weapons deal between two former allies, the defence ministry said Friday.

Iraq was the largest economic partner of Serbia's defence industry in 2009, the ministry said in a statement after Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac visited Baghdad earlier this week.

The 17 remaining Lasta 95 planes will be delivered by the end of the year, it said.

Serbia and Iraq in 2009 agreed to export weapons worth 100 million dollars (75.8 million euros) to Baghdad.

Six Serbian military factories — employing more than 6,000 workers — are involved.

The defence minister said the Iraqis are so satisfied with the deal that they are looking to involve Serbia with rebuilding an air base, building a military hospital and supplying ammunition of all calibres.

Last year Serbia's defence industry exported goods worth 300 million dollars and concluded new deals totalling some 500 million dollars, with Iraq, Algeria and Egypt.

Before his ouster in 2003, late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was a close ally of the communist former Yugoslavia's leader Josip Broz Tito and later of his successor in Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic.

Even after Milosevic was overthrown in 2001, Serbia's new democratic government was suspected of having supplied Saddam's army with weapons despite a United Nations arms embargo, an accusation that Belgrade has persistently denied.

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