The Pentagon has awarded seven Iraq reconstruction contracts worth a total of about $130m (£72.3m) to consortia of US firms.
The contracts cover management projects in six sectors ranging from oil to electricity and are part of a package worth $5bn.

Payment will come out of the $18.6bn in funds for Iraq set aside by the US.

Companies from nations that opposed the war in Iraq were not allowed to bid for these contracts.

Left out

The BBC's Justin Webb says that a smaller tranche of contracts to be awarded soon might be handled differently. No British firms won, but the UK Government pointed out that some work will be handled by the UK offices of the victorious US bidders.

Our correspondent says the contract process has been fraught with difficulties.

The awarding of some large projects, including the re-equipping of Iraq's security forces, has been delayed because of complaints about the fairness of the tendering system.

As part of the $5bn worth of contracts now being awarded, another 10 contracts are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks.

"Everything is moving very nicely and on schedule and the awards should be made soon," said retired Admiral David Nash whose Program Management Office at the Pentagon reports to the CPA.