News / Iraq

Iraq prosecutor build case against suspected corrupt officials

Wednesday, 03 August 2016 12:43 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 03 August 2016 1:43 PM ]

Iraqi Judiciary Spokesman Abdul Sattar Bayraqdar

Iraq’s chief prosecutor has lodged a complaint against the officials recently accused of involvement in alleged corruption in several high-value contracts.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Judiciary spokesman, Abdul Sattar Bayraqdar, said that the case was brought by the head of Iraq's public prosecution against "all those whose names were mentioned" by Iraq's Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi.

On Monday, Obeidi went to the parliament to answer graft allegations brought up by lawmaker Alia Nasayif.

During the questioning, however, the defense minister accused Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and several lawmakers of corruption.

Obeidi insisted that he was being challenged in retribution for his rejection of corruption, accusing the parliamentarians of seeking to blackmail him in order to pass corrupt deals, including a USD 1 billion catering contract, a USD 2.8 billion accord for armored vehicles, and a USD 421 million pact for US military Humvee vehicles.

The remarks prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to order a temporary travel ban on suspected corrupt officials and to direct the country's anti-corruption body to launch an investigation into the case.

Jabouri, however, rejected the travel prohibition, stressing that the measure could only be ordered by the Judiciary.

The row comes as the Iraqi premier has faced calls to reform the country’s political structure in a bid to tackle corruption there.

The supporters of the prominent Iraqi cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, shout slogans during a protest against corruption at Tahrir Square in Baghdad, July 15, 2016. ©Reuters

Earlier this year, Iraqi citizens held sit-ins inside Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone aimed at keeping up pressure on the government to change ministers in an attempt to combat systemic political patronage that has abetted graft. The protests were called by the prominent Iraqi cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

The latest developments on Iraq’s political scene come at a time when the Iraqi army troops and allied volunteer forces are conducting large-scale military operations against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists, who have been controlling swathes of land in the northern and western parts of the country since 2014.

The army is gearing up for a major offensive to liberate Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the last remaining bastion for Daesh in northern Iraq.

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