Iraq pledges $100m to rebuild Sadr City slum

Baghdad: Iraq will spend $100 million to rebuild the east Baghdad slum of Sadr City and create jobs for many of its two million residents, an official said on Sunday.

The Shiite slum is a stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Sadr City was largely outside the government's control until the truce allowed Iraqi soldiers to deploy.

"The government has ordered an allocation of $100 million to reconstruct and develop Sadr City," government spokesman Tahseen Al Sheikhli told a news conference.

He did not give a timeframe for spending the money, but said that part of the funding would go toward easing unemployment. Another $10 million would be used for rebuilding infrastructure.

A separate $50 million would be spent redeveloping the Baghdad neighbourhood of Shula, another poor Shiite district.

Sheikhli said the funds for Sadr City would be spent on a variety of projects, including building two sports stadiums, several schools, health clinics and a blood bank, a dental clinic, markets and parks.