Iraq wants to launch a privatization program that would end state monopolies over industry, an Iraqi official said Sunday on the eve of an international meeting to assess reconstruction activities.

Adel Karim, a deputy minister for industrial development, said Iraq wants to sell cement, brick and pharmaceutical factories as a first step. He declined to discuss details or say if the oil sector may also be considered, but he conceded that deteriorating security could hamper the plan.

"The security situation in Iraq is extremely bad, and obviously safety remains a top priority for businessmen who think about coming to invest in Iraq," Karim told The Associated Press. He spoke on the sidelines of a workshop on investment opportunities in Iraq, organized by his ministry in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce in Jordan.

On Monday, international organizations and representatives of 60 countries, including the United States, plan to gather to review Iraq's reconstruction checklist and coordinate with donors.

The two-day closed meeting, to be held on the coast of the Dead Sea, is sponsored by the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq. The group was launched in early 2004 by the United Nations and the World Bank to help donor nations channel resources and coordinate support for Iraqi reconstruction and development.

So far, 25 donor countries — including the United States, Japan and Canada — have pledged over $1 billion to the fund. That money is separate from $32 billion in loans and grants pledged for Iraq's reconstruction at an October 2003 conference in Madrid, Spain.