Maliki gave orders to arrest ex-trade minister- paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Washington Post on Sunday quoted Iraqi Interior Ministry officials as saying that the order to turn around a plane carrying ex-trade minister, Abdulfalah al-Sudani, and arrest him came from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office. “Iraqi authorities detained the former trade minister on graft charges Saturday after ordering the plane in which he was traveling to turn around, a dramatic development in what has become Iraq’s biggest corruption scandal in years,” the newspaper said. “Abdul Falah al-Sudani, who resigned May 14 amid pressure from parliament, was traveling to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on an Iraqi Airways flight after an Iraqi court filed charges against him. Interior Ministry officials said Sudani was being held in a Baghdad jail and would appear before an investigating judge in the next day or so,” it added. “The arrest warrant accuses Sudani, a 62-year-old dual British Iraqi national, of stealing public money and mismanaging the ministry by importing expired foods and employing his relatives, including two brothers,” the report indicated. “Authorities have issued hundreds of arrest warrants this year, 51 of which are against senior officials, as disenchantment grows over widespread and brazen corruption thought to run into the billions of dollars. Sabah al-Sudani, the minister’s brother, was arrested this month in southern Iraq after being caught with $150,000, $50,000 of which he tried to use to bribe a policeman to let him go, officials said. The other brother, Majid al-Sudani, remains at large.” “Abdul Falah al-Sudani’s resignation came two days before he appeared before parliament to answer questions about corruption in his ministry. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki waited until after the questioning to accept the resignation.” “Sudani is a member of Maliki’s Dawa party, a fact the prime minister’s opponents have highlighted. Maliki, buffeted by charges that corruption reaches into the highest levels of government, has tried in recent days to seize the initiative from his detractors, declaring Friday that the government’s anti-corruption committee would launch a vast campaign against those stealing public funds,” it noted. “Parliament, too, has sought to capitalize on the issue. Lawmakers say they plan to question the ministers of transportation and oil about mismanagement and corruption. “The issue of corruption is expected to play an important role in next year’s parliamentary elections, which will choose a new government as the Obama administration withdraws combat troops from Iraq. The topic has dominated newspaper headlines and emerges in many conversations in Baghdad’s streets,” it added. SS (I) 1