Corruption is funding insurgency, says Iraqi official
Baghdad - The head of the Iraqi authority charged with tackling administrative corruption in the country has said the problem is now so bad that it is a source of funding for armed groups.
'Corruption has become one of the most important sources for funding terrorism and it is spread throughout all government bodies,' said Aza al-Radhi, head of the Iraqi Integrity Authority.
The number of administrative corruption cases has topped 1,400 with 45 top officials including ministers and deputy ministers implicated in the cases, al-Radhi said.
Some government officials accept bribes in return for finding jobs for citizens or registering them under a fake name. Other officials use state money to spend on their houses, or exploit trade deals with international companies and smuggle oil, al-Radhi said.
Al-Radhi, who has been head of the Integrity Authority for three years, attributes the spread of corruption to the deterioration of the security situation. He also believes that the Iraqi government's policy of distributing portfolios on a sectarian basis is contributing to the problem. Ministers and senior officials, he claims, were entering office with the aim of taking advantage of their position 'before it is too late.'
'We have received more than 1,400 cases of corruption in different state bodies (involving) ministers, deputies of ministers and general managers,' he added.
Al-Radhi named ministers in the former interim governing council which directly followed the ouster of Saddam Hussein, as well as ministers in the successive government of Iyad Allawi including then defence minister Hazam al-Shaalan, as having been involved in corruption.
A frequent source of corruption is oil smuggling by gangs in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
'The citizens are afraid to report these crimes and hesitate to testify lest they be threatened by armed groups who support such crimes and collaborate with officials and security personnel,' al-Radhi said.
Fifteen employees of the integrity authority have died at the hands of figures involved in corruption, he added.
A report by the authority claims 15 judges were killed after they ratified cases concerning administrative corruption and terrorism.
'There are some who are trying to intervene in the work of the authority and put obstacles to prevent it from being independent,' he added.
MP Mithal al-Aloussy believes that tackling administrative corruption should be one of the priorities of the Iraqi parliament. Corruption is 'eating up the body of the state,' al-Aloussy said, adding that laws should be drafted to preserve public funds.
Al-Aloussy called on the government to expose former and interim officials who are involved in corruption and refer them to the judiciary.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed in the programme he presented before parliament last month to do away with the phenomenon of administrative corruption and pursue the perpetrators.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link Here
'Corruption has become one of the most important sources for funding terrorism and it is spread throughout all government bodies,' said Aza al-Radhi, head of the Iraqi Integrity Authority.
The number of administrative corruption cases has topped 1,400 with 45 top officials including ministers and deputy ministers implicated in the cases, al-Radhi said.
Some government officials accept bribes in return for finding jobs for citizens or registering them under a fake name. Other officials use state money to spend on their houses, or exploit trade deals with international companies and smuggle oil, al-Radhi said.
Al-Radhi, who has been head of the Integrity Authority for three years, attributes the spread of corruption to the deterioration of the security situation. He also believes that the Iraqi government's policy of distributing portfolios on a sectarian basis is contributing to the problem. Ministers and senior officials, he claims, were entering office with the aim of taking advantage of their position 'before it is too late.'
'We have received more than 1,400 cases of corruption in different state bodies (involving) ministers, deputies of ministers and general managers,' he added.
Al-Radhi named ministers in the former interim governing council which directly followed the ouster of Saddam Hussein, as well as ministers in the successive government of Iyad Allawi including then defence minister Hazam al-Shaalan, as having been involved in corruption.
A frequent source of corruption is oil smuggling by gangs in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
'The citizens are afraid to report these crimes and hesitate to testify lest they be threatened by armed groups who support such crimes and collaborate with officials and security personnel,' al-Radhi said.
Fifteen employees of the integrity authority have died at the hands of figures involved in corruption, he added.
A report by the authority claims 15 judges were killed after they ratified cases concerning administrative corruption and terrorism.
'There are some who are trying to intervene in the work of the authority and put obstacles to prevent it from being independent,' he added.
MP Mithal al-Aloussy believes that tackling administrative corruption should be one of the priorities of the Iraqi parliament. Corruption is 'eating up the body of the state,' al-Aloussy said, adding that laws should be drafted to preserve public funds.
Al-Aloussy called on the government to expose former and interim officials who are involved in corruption and refer them to the judiciary.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed in the programme he presented before parliament last month to do away with the phenomenon of administrative corruption and pursue the perpetrators.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link Here
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