Rebuilding Iraq 'still huge task'

Chris Hogg
BBC News, Baghdad

There is still a lot of work to get Iraq back on its feet, the general said

The senior British soldier in Iraq has said there is still a huge amount of work to do to get the country back on its feet.

General Graham Lamb said he believed his part of the country was in a better shape than when he arrived.

But the general said that overall the US-led coalition still had some way to go in its efforts to rebuild Iraq.

General Lamb is shortly due to leave his post as commander of the multi-national force in Southern Iraq.

More to be done

The relative stability of the general's sector means he has been able to divert more of the manpower available to him to rebuilding the country's infrastructure.

I sense that we're well in the turn; we haven't yet turned the corner General Graham Lamb

He said fuel smuggling had been a major challenge.

Another problem is the large amount of unexploded ordinance still lying around.

The general feels the British forces working with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) are beginning to make a difference though.

"I sense that we're well in the turn; we haven't yet turned the corner," he said.

"There's a huge amount to do and that's why the partnership with the CPA moving this political process forward with the Iraqi people is absolutely crucial."

There are far fewer attacks on General Lamb's forces than on those in other parts of Iraq where the insurgency is stronger.

But across the country security is being tightened ahead of the Christmas holiday in response to what senior American sources have described as specific potential threats.