The action by Mr. Maliki to undermine the standing and credibility of TBI, the success story of Iraq, is the most damning example of political corruption. The Iraqi people will not stand for this. I urge you to form an internationally respected committee to investigate the actions of the Prime Minister and his office in this respect.
It is my position that the charges against Mr. Al Uzri would not stand up in any international court and should Mr. Al Uzri decide to seek significant damages in an international court the Iraq government will have to prove the accusations in an international court.
If somebody like Mr. Ali Allawi were to be asked to chair such a committee and he were prepared to accept, this would demonstrate that the committee would be independent and professional. It should include two independent international auditors and two internationally respected lawyers. I would be very surprised if such an investigation did not establish beyond any doubt whatsoever that the actions by Mr. Maliki and the charges brought against Mr. Al Uzri were unlawful, unfounded and an attempt to divert attention from serious corruption in various ministries.
To replace the key executives in the bank with those on the unconstitutional committee set up in the Prime Minister's Office and others (at this present time 11 individuals) from Rafidain Bank will destroy the reputation of TBI and Iraq. The General Manager appointed and others are from the bank that was responsible for at Rafidain for losing close to $300 million. They do not have appropriate experience and they themselves should be under serious investigation for what happened in Rafidain. There are two other Iraqi banks which cannot pay depositors. They are the Warka Bank and the Basra Bank.
By removing Mr. Al Uzri and his outstanding team, the bank has lost its independence and is under the direct control of Mr. Maliki and this is what he sought to achieve.
Mr. Maliki personally signed contracts in Korea for billions of dollars for the supply of turbines at a price that raises serious questions and without any bidding process and bypassing the approved Iraqi Budget. Mr. Maliki insisted that TBI provided confirmed LCs when there was no basis for this in the agreement.
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