Iraq Responds to Criticism by Announcing Conviction of 86 LOW LEVEL officials for corruption while selling passports
The Iraqi government seems to be reacting to criticism that they are easy on corruption by announcing that they have prosecuted 300 officials with corruption and handed down 86 convictions.
But, rather than convicting Ministry leaders who are KNOWN to have skimmed millions, the convictions are of low level officials for selling passports.
So, our other articles still hold fast... the Al-Maliki Iraqi government is systematically eliminating anti-corruption efforts and it seems the US State Dept. still does not use diplomacy or fiscal sanctions to reverse the trend. I have given up getting a job with State or USAID to fix this problem (:-)) , so lets be blunt...Condoleeza Rice's State Department doesn't consider corruption fighting to be a priority or a condition of receiving US funds, and they prefer to focus on other diplomatic priorities while letting the Iraq government systematically siphon US funds off for corrupt purposes...
vj
From Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
Iraq Says 300 Officials Charged With Corruption
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Iraq has charged more than 300 officials with
corruption this year and courts handed down 86 convictions, its
corruption watchdog has said, as a nation awash in oil money fought
back against graft.
Iraq
is perceived as being the world's third most corrupt country, with only
failed state Somalia and Myanmar's military junta below it, according
to the Transparency International index measuring perceptions of graft
in 180 nations.
U.S. officials say corruption is a threat to Iraq's fledgling democracy and could undo recent security gains.
The
government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been preoccupied with
restoring security, but as violence falls it is seeking to match
battlefield successes with political reforms.
"In 2008, we
referred 337 cases to the court. This year has seen the biggest
achievement," Rahim al-Ugaili, a judge and head of the Iraqi Integrity
Commission, told journalists.
He added that courts had
successfully convicted 86 people. Most were low-level officials,
especially those involved in selling fake passports to Iraqis fleeing
the country.
"In Iraq, the battle against terrorism has been
tough and bloody, but the battle against corruption will be more
prolonged," Ugaili said, adding that perceptions of corruption were
deterring already jumpy foreign investors.
"Big companies do not come to a corrupt environment. The foreign investor does not give his money to be stolen," he said.
He
added that an amnesty law passed by parliament in February, opening the
way for a release of mostly Sunni Arab prisoners, had "negatively
affected the work of the commission" by effectively pardoning 1,721
officials suspected of graft.
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