The defense cooperation and security agency said on its Web site , seen by " Shafaq News " , that “ it had informed Congress on the potential to sale 24 Apache aircrafts to government of Prime Minister , Nuri al-Maliki , which seeks to address the growing threat of armed groups .

The sale of aircraft has caused concerns with the leadership of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, including some related to whether the United States can get adequate insurances against the use of aircraft for purposes other than what were allocated for.

The Assistant of the Senate said that the committee agreed to hire and sale helicopters to Iraq after, " the Department of State contact us intensely this month " to address the concerns of Congress.

The number of helicopters to be leased or sold was not immediately clear to Iraq .