"The ministry has received in the last few days new American (Beechcraft) King Air surveillance aircraft," Mohammed said in a statement, adding that the aircraft flew over Baghdad for the first time on Sunday.

Mohammed said the planes had been bought with Iraqi money, but he did not say how much was paid.

However, he said local pilots had been trained to fly the US-built twin-engine turbo-prop aircraft and transmit live images to a control centre to help direct ground troops.

Earlier this month Mohammed confirmed that Iraq planned to buy F-16 jets from the US, and media reports said that Baghdad wanted 36 of the advanced fighters.

Such a deal would be expected to reduce Iraqi reliance on US air power and possibly clear the way for a withdrawal of more US troops from the country, where they currently number 144,000.

US officials have previously maintained that they would have to keep fighter aircraft and helicopters in Iraq even after American combat troops leave.

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