KUWAIT - The United States urged members of the coalition fighting Islamic State on Tuesday to help rebuild Iraq or risk the reversal of the gains made against the group there.
The U.S. leads the coalition and hopes that after a three-year fight to defeat the militants it can count in large part on Gulf allies to shoulder the burden of rebuilding Iraq and on a Saudi-Iraqi rapprochement to weaken Iran’s influence in the country, which is run by a Shi’ite led government.
Islamic State took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Donors and investors have gathered in Kuwait this week to discuss efforts to rebuild Iraq’s economy and infrastructure as it emerges from a devastating conflict with the hardline militants who seized almost a third of the country. (Reuters)