An Iraqi parliament member said Tuesday that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki plans to sue Israel for damages done to his country following its destruction of the Tammuz nuclear reactor.

The Air Force bombed the site in 1981. Now, 29 years later, al-Maliki has instructed the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad to clarify with the UN whether it would be possible to extract compensation from Israel.

An Iraqi source told the German DPA that MP Mohammad Naji said UN Resolution 487, approved after the strike, allowed his country to sue Israel.

"Al-Maliki's appeal follows an answer received from the UN Secretariat by the government of Iraq on November 25, which says Iraq has a right to demand compensation for the damage Israel did to it with the attack on the reactor, through a neutral committee which will assess the extent of the damage," the report says.

Naji estimated that Baghdad would complete the suit very soon. In an interview with the Iraqi al-Sabaah, he said a number of parliament members were leading the initiative and "trying to carry out international decisions on the matter".