BaghdadAP —
Several Iraqi political officials were arrested on corruption charges early Sunday, Iraq’s official Iraqi News Agency reported.
The newspaper said the arrests were based on a statement by Adnan al-Jumaili, a former deputy oil minister who was arrested last month, and “also includes members of parliament whose immunity has been lifted.”
Iraqi security forces blocked all entrances to the capital Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone early Sunday and raided the compound, which houses key government offices and foreign embassies.
Seven people were arrested, including five members of parliament, according to a security report obtained by The Associated Press. Some of those arrested were from former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s political bloc. It was not immediately clear what the specific charges against them were.
Al-Sudani’s bloc won the most seats in November’s parliamentary elections, but ultimately withdrew over their preferred candidate for prime minister amid an impasse over the Coordination Framework, the coalition of Iran-allied Shi’ite parties that brought al-Sudani to power.
He was replaced by Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman and political newcomer who emerged as the consensus candidate and received US blessing.
The arrest is likely to have ripple effects across Iraq’s fractured political landscape, where corruption accusations frequently intersect with conflicts over power and influence.
