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.
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS