Donated firearms, uniforms, to be used to protect Iraqi cultural sites

The Czech Republic and Iraq have signed an agreement on a Czech donation of military firearms as well as uniforms to be used by Iraqis in the protection of significant cultural sites. The agreement, signed by the Czech defence minister and the Iraqi ambassador to Prague, will see some 1,500 submachine guns, 50 machine guns, and 1,500 uniforms no longer in use by the Czech Army, to be donated for Iraqi personnel to guard sites that have been subject to heavy looting and damages since the outbreak of war in Iraq. The donated material is expected to reach Iraq in several weeks in a transport delivery organised by NATO. The Iraqi government has classified the donation as "humanitarian" rather than military.

In total the Czech government has put forward some 78 million US dollars in recent years towards the reconstruction of Iraq, funds used in humanitarian aid, the running of a Czech field hospital in Basra, and the training of Iraqi police.