"We have spent close to five million dollars on 9,000 anti-tank mines, 2,000 land mines, 2,000 Kalashnikovs, more than 1,000 rocket launchers, more than 2,000 anti-tank missiles," he told a press conference adding that more than 1,550 mortar shells and nearly 600,000 bullets were also handed in.

"The programme was a great success and the government is looking to repeat it in other parts of the country," he said.

The programme, which ended Thursday, lasted 10 days and came after a call by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to his followers in Baghdad to hand over their weapons in return for promises by the interim government to stop arresting members of his movement and release many of those held in US-run prisons.

Iraqi forces backed by the US military are due to begin searches on Sunday to verify the extent of disarmament in Sadr City, which has been the scene of off-and-on clashes between Sadr's militia and US and Iraqi forces over the past six months.

Saleh said the government has allocated 365 million dollars for reconstruction in Sadr City, which is one of the poorest parts of the capital.