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| Iraq |
| 19 Arrests over Threats against Iraq Whistleblower |
| 2012-01-22 |
| [An Nahar] Iraqi police tossed in the calaboose 19 officials and tribal leaders after they threatened to harm an MP who alleged graft in Storied Baghdad's ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... municipal government, officials said on Saturday. Sherwan al-Waili, a politician belonging to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's bloc and a former minister of state for national security, made the claims in mid-December. They led to the arrest of Storied Baghdad deputy mayor Naeem Abboub. The 19 suspects, including at least five Storied Baghdad municipal officials and several tribal leaders, were jugged on Friday after they allegedly conveyed the threat to Waili's brother Merdan in the southern city of Nasiriyah. "Around 20 men arrived, some of them in government cars," Merdan al-Waili, a 60-year-old tribal chief, told AFP. "They threatened me. They said: 'If our sons are not released in two days, you will see what happens'." Nasiriyah police Colonel Falah al-Saidi said officers tossed in the calaboose 19 people after they "threatened Merdan, and said his brother is responsible for the lives of their sons, and the judgments against them." Thirteen of the people tossed in the calaboose have since been released, and six remain in jug. A Waili family member, who did not want to be named, said the group had also demanded that the politician publicly apologize for his claims. Waili's political office told AFP that the politician had uncovered evidence of corruption in Abboub's office, and insisted Waili would continue his work. Graft is rife in Iraq, with watchdog Transparency International ranking the country as the eighth-most corrupt country in the world. Efforts to fight corruption are often met with violence and intimidation. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Graft and bribery exist in all societies. It acts like a tax that inhibits efficient financial activity. Capital tends to seek markets where it can achieve a good and predictable return. Add some socialism and instability into the brew of high levels of corruption and capital flees. Iraqis can choose to be like the US that has a relatively low level of corruption and socialism versus a potential high level of profit or Iraqis can follow the opposite template of Zimbabwe. Somewhere in between is Mexico. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2012-01-22 14:09 |
| #1 Just one whistleblower type can have a devastating effect on graft, especially if he gets away with it. That an Iraqi was able and willing to do this is really shocking. And hopefully will be inspirational to other Iraqis. Once honesty gets around, graft becomes much, much harder. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-01-22 11:25 |