Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki said on Saturday his government would buy 36 F-16 fighters from the US, doubling the number of aircraft it had initially planned to buy.

Earlier this year, Iraq had delayed the purchase of F-16 jets, made by Lockheed Martin Corp, after putting $900 million of allocated funds into its national food programme to reduce the pressure from Iraqis staging demonstrations in protest against poor basic services. - Reuters