Sunday, December 11, 2022

Iraq: Money recovered, but where are the convictions?

Starting with what's been dubbed "the heist of the century.''  Daniel Stewart (NEWS 360) notes:

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani announced Sunday the recovery of a second block of embezzled funds linked to what Iraqi authorities have described as 'the theft of the century'.

Al Sudani's office said in a statement on its website that "integrity authorities continue to recover stolen money from the tax fund," an operation carried out "under close supervision of the prime minister and in cooperation with the Supreme Judicial Council."

"As promised by the prime minister in his statements on November 27, a second part of the stolen money has been recovered," he said, before detailing that the sum amounts to more than 134 billion Iraqi dinars (about 87.2 million euros) that have been deposited in an account at Rafidain Bank.

This brings the recovered funds to more than 317 billion dinars (about 206.3 million euros). "Efforts to recover the stolen money and pursue the wanted persons continue under the direct supervision of the prime minister, in line with the government program, which places the fight against corruption as its top priority," he reiterated.


Amr Salem (IRAQI NEWS) adds, "The statement clarified that the second batch of these funds, which is nearly 134.5 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately 192.1 million USD) was recovered."  USD of $2.53 billion is the amount stolen.   And why are they not also announcing arrests and trials?   RUDAW reminds that the prime minister vowed last month, "We will not leave out anyone or any name or any party involved, regardless of who they are, and the parties involved will be announced after completing the investigation."  So where are the names of the officials who stole the money?


Is Haitham al-Jubouri, named days ago, the only official to be named?  Everyone else going to get a pass?



We like to point out here that Bully Boy Bush was in the White House when Brookings identified the disputed areas as one of the hotspots for future violence.  And that nothing was ever done even though Article 140 of Iraq's Constitution mandated that the disputed areas be resolved by the end of 2007.  For those who don't get it, RUDAW reports:



Dozens of resettled Arabs on Wednesday attacked Kurdish farmers in Daquq district of Kirkuk province after ploughing on their land. Two farmers were injured. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called on the Iraqi government to put an end such attacks. 

Disputes over land ownership between Arabs, resettled to areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad by the Baathist regime, and Kurdish farmers have existed for years, often causing violence. 

Abdulqadir Mohammed, a Kurdish farmer in Daquq, told Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed on Wednesday that dozens of resettled Arabs had been ploughing on his land for three days with the alleged support of the Iraqi army. He said that when they tried to stop them, the resettled Arabs attacked with stones and guns. 

Mohammed said he has all necessary documents to prove the ownership of the land. 





An archaeological dig in Nimrud, Iraq revealed an enormous palace door that belonged to the Assyrian King Adad-Nirari III during his rule from 810-783 BCE, The Art Newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The discovery was made by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, led by archaeologist Michael Danti, who found that the door measured about 6.5 feet (nearly 2 meters), according to ARTnews.

Recent excavations in the area began in mid-October and, according to ARTnews, the project constitutes the largest archaeological excavation carried out in the area since it was destroyed in 2016 by ISIS. However, the area has a long history of archeological research which began in the mid-19th century with British archeologist Austen Henry Layard.

Several slabs were discovered in addition the door, which contained inscribed lists of King Adad-Nirari's ancestors. 
What do the archeologists think?

Art Newspaper quoted Danti as saying that the door was possibly uncovered by Layard already and may have been later relocated to the British Museum and then reburied in Iraq.



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