Al-Kadhimi made his comments during the International Conference for the Recovery of Stolen Funds, which kicked off on Wednesday morning in Iraqi capital Baghdad, with the presence of Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

"I call on friendly and brotherly countries to help Iraq recover its funds, and we are open to the utmost degree of cooperation with all countries in this regard," Al-Kadhimi said in his televised speech during the opening session of the conference.

Fighting corruption and recovery of stolen and smuggled funds outside Iraq is a priority for his government, al-Kadhimi said, pointing out that corruption has paved the way for the emergence of the terrorist groups in the country.

For his part, Aboul-Gheit said that the conference is "an important opportunity to fight corruption," asserting that confronting corruption "requires continuous cooperation."

The International Conference for the Recovery of Stolen Funds also hosted some Arab justice ministers, heads of some Arab financial and legal bodies, as well as representatives of Arab associations and organizations related to the issue of combating corruption.

Iraq hopes that the conference will give impetus to its efforts to recover its stolen and smuggled funds by finding ways to facilitate their recovery and preventing safe havens for them in other countries. — Agencies