Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that his country needs at least three years to rebuild its army while trying to save the country from the threat of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that his country needs at least three years to rebuild its army while trying to save the country from the threat of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"The most difficult thing is to restructure and build the army while you are in a state of war," Abadi told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Cairo.

The Iraqi premier said that ISIL is a bigger threat to Iraq than the al-Qaeda was during several years of fighting following the US invasion of 2003.

“Our aim is to create a balance between both, restructuring the army in a way that will not impact the fighting," Reuters quoted Abadi.

“Restructuring the army could take three years," said Abadi in the interview. "This does not mean that the fighting with Islamic State will last for three years."

Abadi was in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as part of a series of visits to Iraq’s neighbors, mostly recently to Iran and Turkey.