Resigned trade minister held in Samawa prison

MUTHANNA / IraqiNews.com: Resigned Trade Minister Abdulfalah al-Sudani on Sunday arrived in Muthanna province under police escort, according to a local judicial source. “On Sunday, police forces put the resigned minister of trade in the Samawa Central Prison after he had been brought from Baghdad under police escort,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “Sudani is accused of squandering public funds in accordance with Article 340 of the Criminal Law,” he added. In June 2008, the integrity office in Muthanna seized decaying foodstuffs that can cause colon cancer. The confiscated stuff had been brought by the Ministry of Trade. On Saturday (May 30), a source from Baghdad International Airport said that Sudani was arrested upon his arrival at the airport after his plane had been ordered to return to Baghdad. On its way to the United Arab Emirates, a plane carrying the minister has been returned to Iraq less than one and a half hours after taking off from the airport. A few days ago, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accepted Sudani’s resignation, which was tendered on May 14. Sudani was questioned by the Parliament for two days on charges of “administrative and financial corruption.” SS (S) 3