A damning report by the US embassy detailing corruption in the Iraqi government was made public yesterday, days ahead of a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and US President George W. Bush.
The draft report, posted on the IraqSlogger.com Web site, paints a grim picture of graft in all government departments, many of which, it says, are controlled by criminal gangs and militia.
Al-Maliki's office, it says, has shown an "open hostility" to allowing independent investigators to probe corruption cases.
Government corruption is expected to be on the agenda when al-Maliki and Bush, who has frequently urged the Iraqi government to do more to effect political reconciliation and rein in graft, meet in New York next week at the UN General Assembly.
Also likely to be discussed is a furious row over the deployment of US private security company Blackwater to protect US embassy staff in Iraq, following its involvement in a shooting incident in Baghdad on Sunday in which 10 people were killed.
Al-Maliki has demanded that the US replace the firm, while Bush on Thursday expressed his sorrow at the loss of life.
The 82-page corruption report is marked "Sensitive but not classified" and labeled a "working draft."
National Public Radio in the US quoted a US official as saying the report is still in draft form and that there are questions about the reliability of some of the sources.
The Commission of Public Integrity, which is tasked with rooting out corruption from Iraqi state institutions, is "a passive rather than a true investigative agency," the report said.
"Though legally empowered to conduct investigations, the combined security situation and the violent character of the criminal elements within the ministries make investigation of corruption too hazardous for all but a tactically robust police force with the support of the Iraqi government," it said.
"This support is lacking," it said, adding that the lack of support allowed "corruption to be the norm in many ministries."
"[Commission investigators] cannot be trusted to truthfully reveal criminal activity against anyone protected by the violent or powerful," the report said.
"The court system in Iraq remains weak, intimidated, subject to political pressure and clogged with minor cases," it said.
The interior ministry is seen by Iraqis as untouchable while corruption investigations in the defense ministry are judged to be ineffectual, it said.
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