BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi Minister of Public Works Nisreen Mustafa Berwari said the World Bank would grant 170 billion Iraqi dinars (about 117 million US dollars) to help reconstruction of infrastructure in Iraq, local newspaper Al Sabah reported Monday.

    Berwari said the bank agreed to finance all the projects that the ministry submitted and the signing ceremony for the first phase of the reconstruction would take place in mid-October.

    The bank will allocate 90 million dollars to implement 12 projects in the first phase which will start from mid-October and 20 to 25 million dollars to implement two more projects in the second phase, said the minister.

    When choosing the projects to be financed by the World Bank, the ministry took into consideration the dire needs of people,geographical balance and integration of projects, she added.

    Berwari also said the successful implementation of these projects will help Iraq obtain other grants and loans in the coming year.

    The reconstruction projects of infrastructure would also provide numerous job opportunities that would help reduce the country's soaring unemployment rate, which reached about 60 percent after the US-led war on Iraq in March 2003. Enditem