Iraq's Prime Minister Abadi to seek US help in obtaining billions of dollars in drones, other weapons

Iraq's prime minister would seek President Barack Obama's help to acquire billions of dollars in drones and other US arms to fight Islamic State during a visit to the US this week but wanted to defer payment for the purchases, a senior Iraqi official said.

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is grappling with an insurgency by militants from Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot that emerged from the chaos in Iraq and neighbouring Syria and seized much of northern and central Iraq last year.

He is also facing a cash crunch thanks to a plunge in oil prices that is ravaging Iraq's state finances. The government is projecting a budget deficit of roughly US$21 billion this year.

Visiting Washington for the first time as prime minister, Abadi hopes to convince a war-weary United States Iraq deserves more US manpower and arms three years after US troops withdrew from the country in December 2011, as his fledgling army confronts Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

"ISIS is everybody's problem now," said the senior Iraqi official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "You can't run away from the problem if it comes to Canada or goes to France," he said in reference to attacks by people influenced by Islamic State or al-Qaeda in those countries.

The senior Iraqi official hinted Baghdad could turn to Tehran if it did not get the aid it wanted from Washington.

"If that's not available, we've already done it with the Iranians and others," he said, saying that was not the first choice.