Bribery Scandal: PM Calls for Investigation

By John Lee.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abaid has called for an investigation into allegations of bribery in the Iraqi oil industry.

Iraq's ambassador to the United States, Lukman Faily, has also said that al-Abadi will personally chair a new committee to review all major contracts issued by government ministries.

The moves follow reports from the Huffington Post and Australia's Fairfax Media that Monaco-based Unaoil acted as an intermediary to facilitate payments between international oil companies and government officials.

The country’s former oil minister and current education minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, urged the government to investigate everyone named in the report, including himself, and called on the Huffington Post to hand over all the documents it referenced.

Authorities in Monaco raided the Unaoil offices and the homes of its directors last week, after Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) sought help in its investigation. Unaoil directors were also questioned by Monaco police.

Read our Expert Blogger, Ahmed Mousa Jiyad's analysis of the crisis.

(Source: WSJ, Huffington Post)