Iraq has formed a committee to negotiate with France to recover 651 million euros (895 million U. S. dollars) paid by Saddam Hussein's regime for buying Mirage F1 jet fighters which were never delivered, the government said on Thursday.



The committee is headed by an advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki and includes senior officials from the presidency office, defense, foreign affairs and justice Ministries, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.



The committee is designated to negotiate with France over recovering the advance money, said the statement posted on the website.



"Formation of this committee and other committees to recover Iraqi funds outside Iraq came as part of the government policy to safeguard Iraq's money and retain the rights of the Iraqi people outside the country," al-Dabbagh said.



During the war with Iran in the 1980s, Iraq used to purchase advanced weapons from world powers, including France, but some contracts were not fulfilled as the UN imposed 13 years of sanctions following the invasion of Saddam's army of Kuwait in 1990.



Source: Xinhua