Iraq's science minister said Monday he will focus on building an army of scientists to conduct peaceful nuclear research in contrast to the more destructive ambitions of Saddam Hussein.
But the country urgently needs 15 million dollars for a short term fix as it struggles to rebuild and restock laboratories that fell into ruin during years of war and sanctions under Saddam, interim Science and Technology Minister Rashad Mandan Omar told AFP in an interview.
Despite pledges of support from the international community, no money has yet parted hands, he said, urging organs like the International Monetary Fund to turn words into action.
"We will develop a strong scientific community," Omar said.
"The plan of my ministry is to redirect Iraqi scientists and technologists to contribute towards the country and to solve problems in industry, agriculture and environment which can build Iraq as a strong nation."
Nuclear physics remained a key area for research but Iraq's scientific talent would be steered towards fighting disease rather than developing weapons of mass destruction, he said.
"We want to treat ailments like cancer. For that we need nuclear science," Omar explained.
"But we are not going to have any false title for a project to conduct destructive research. That chapter is closed. It is finished. We are fed up of it."
Scientific research was all but snuffed out under former regime, cut off from free contact with the outside world and deprived of many of its best minds - including Omar himself - who fled the country during the war with Iran in the 1980s and the first Gulf war in 1991, the science minister noted.
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