IRAQ PLANS TO BUY U.S. WEAPONRY

BAGHDAD [MENL] -- Iraq's military plans to purchase the lion's share of platformsand weaponry from the United States. The Iraqi Defense Ministry, in a review of military requirements for2006, has recommended that future procurement focus on U.S. weapons andsystems. The ministry has determined that U.S.-origin systems would beeasier to operate and maintain than Soviet-origin surplus weapons fromformer Warsaw Bloc states.