BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sacked his minister of electricity for being involved in signing contracts of $1.7 billion with two faked foreign companies, an official said on Sunday.

"Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered late on Saturday night to depose Raad Shallal, the minister of electricity, over confirmed information that the latter signed two faked contracts valued $1.7 billion," Hassan al-Senied, a lawmaker from Maliki's State of Law parliamentary bloc told reporters.

The two contracts signed with two companies were aimed at building power plants using diesel oil, but it was discovered that the two companies were faked, Senied said.

Maliki ordered full investigation into the contracts to discover other people involved with the discharged minister, he said, adding that Maliki probably will appoint his deputy for energy affairs Hussien al-Shahristani as acting minister instead of Shallal until naming another minister.

Shallal is a deputy for the al-Iraqia parliamentary bloc, headed by the former prime minister Ayad Allawi. He was repeatedly criticized by Iraqis for failing in improving the country's electrical grid despite extensive budgetary allocations.

During the summer months with temperatures soar to above 50 degrees Celsius in Iraq, the demand for electricity usually rise to more than 14,000 megawatts (MW). But badly damaged and neglected power generating plants and distribution networks resulted from three decades of successive wars, severe UN sanctions and wide-spread of corruption after 2003, Iraq currently generates roughly 7,000 MW.

In 2010, several civilians were killed in demonstrations and clashes with Iraqi security forces when angry people took to the streets to protest against the government as national electricity supplies left them with just four hours of power a day or less.

The protests forced the former Electricity Minister Karim Wahid to step down from his position due to mounting public pressure.