Annual Corruption Ranking Index Says Iraq is One of the Worst

Transparency International ( "TI" is at www.transparency.org) issued yesterday their 2007 annual corruption ranking "Index" of 180 countries, and Iraq was listed third from the bottom of the list and one of the worst, even below Haiti.

Remember, the Coalition and US have been "running" or funding Iraq's activities since 2003, so as we have said, the State Dept. and Military place little emphasis on correcting corruption before giving them more funds.

Additionally, TI now has a webpage that shows the results of a daily Lexis-Nexis search on corruption articles from around the world. Also look at "TI in the news" which has many more entries - the daily Lexis-Nexis results are at:
http://www.transparency.org/news_room/corruption_news/today

Below are some related articles and the new 2007 TI corruption index, with a press release was issued Sept. 26, 2007 and is at:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi

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From BBCNews.com

Arab states named as more corrupt

An anti-corruption group says three Arab states are among a dozen worldwide where corruption has seen a significant increase in the past year.

The Arab nations named by Transparency International were Jordan and the Gulf states of Bahrain and Oman.

The Arab countries with the least perceived corruption were Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Places with a history of civil conflict - such as Burma, Iraq and Somalia - were rated the worst for corruption.

Doing Business

The survey ranked 180 countries on a scale of one to 10 based on the perceptions of business people and analysts.

The best were Denmark, Finland and New Zealand.

Bahrain was 46th with a score of five out of 10, while Jordan and Oman both scored 4.7 to be equal 53rd.

Last year's rankings gave Bahrain a score of 5.7 (36th position), Oman 5.4 (39th position) and Jordan 5.3 (40th position).

Scores below five indicate "serious" perceived levels of corruption, the agency said, while scores below three reflect "rampant" corruption.

Separately, the World Bank's annual Doing Business report put Egypt at the top of the list of reformers who had cut red tape and improved trading conditions.

Cairo greatly improved its position with reforms in five of the 10 areas studied by the report, the bank said.

It had slashed minimum capital requirements from E£50,000 ($8,950) to E£1,000 and halved the time and cost of start-ups.

It also cut property registration fees, and set up one-stop shops for traders at the ports, and cut import and export times.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7014797.stm

Published: 2007/09/26 17:55:41 GMT
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from the Gulf Daily News (from Bahrain)
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=195084&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30191

Corruption index blow for Bahrain

By ABDULRAHMAN FAKHRI

BAHRAIN was among 11 countries cited by Transparency International yesterday as having a "significant worsening in levels of perceived corruption" this year, despite retaining its rank as the third least corrupt country in the Arab world. Its global ranking also dropped in the 2007 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 36, among 163 countries last year, to 46, among 180 countries this year.

The index comes at a time when Bahrain is stepping up its war on corruption, with prosecution against officials from three national companies. It scores countries on a scale from zero to 10, with zero indicating high levels of perceived corruption and 10 indicating low levels.

Bahrain's score of 5.0 was down compared to last year's 5.7 and 2005's score of 5.6, but maintained its position behind Qatar (6.0) and the UAE (5.7).

TI's corruption perceptions index focuses on the public sector and defines corruption as "the abuse of public office for private gain".

Among the index's sources are surveys by the World Bank, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The Berlin-based organisation said that countries with a significant worsening corruption levels include Austria, Bahrain, Belize, Jordan, Laos, Macao, Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.

The 11 countries were also ranked among countries whose scores deteriorated most between last year and this year.

"In these cases, actual changes in perceptions occurred during the last two years," said TI in its report.

About the Middle East, the report states that this year's results "make clear that corruption and lack of transparency still constitute a very important challenge for development of the region".

"For many countries in the Middle East, increased debate about corruption reflects slow but steady progress on legal reforms," it said.

It highlighted countries that ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), namely Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, the UAE and Yemen.

Bahrain signed the UNCAC on February 8, 2005, but has not yet ratified it.

Arab countries, which equaled or scored lower than Bahrain in the rankings, that take into consideration other variables, were Oman in 53rd place with a score of 4.7; Jordan, 53rd, 4.7; Kuwait, 60th, 4.3; Saudi Arabia, 79th, 3.4; Lebanon, 99th, 3.0; Yemen, Libya and Iran, 131st with each with a score of 2.5; Syria, 138th, 2.4; and Iraq, 178th with a score of 1.5.

Countries with a significant improvement included Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominica, Italy, Macedonia, Romania and Suriname.

Among the major powers, Britain was ranked 12th, Germany 16th, Japan 17th, France 19th, the US 20th, while China, Brazil and India were tied at 72nd place, and Russia was 143rd.

Worst ranked for corruption were Myanmar and Somalia with a score of just 1.4, followed by Iraq on 1.5 and Haiti, which was bottom of last year's list with 1.6 points.

Officials from the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (Asry), Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and Gulf Air are facing fraud and embezzlement charges as part of the country's efforts to step up its war on corruption.

A senior Asry official has been arrested and remanded in custody for a week for allegedly cheating the company out of BD40,000.

He is one of two Asry officials suspended on last Wednesday, following an extraordinary board meeting over investigation by an external auditor into alleged financial irregularities.

Six Gulf Air employees have also been charged with forgery and embezzlement.

They were among eight airline members of staff reported to the Public Prosecution by the airline on last Thursday for allegedly cheating customers.

The men, Bahrainis and expatriates, are said to have cheated Haj pilgrims out of BD3,785 last December.

Meanwhile, a senior Alba official and a former official are in custody, in a case allegedly involving more than $2.5 million (BD945,000) in illegal commission and discounts.

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