Ex-Iraqi trade minister arrested

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s former trade minister was arrested Saturday in a burgeoning corruption scandal after his plane was ordered back to Baghdad while en route to the United Arab Emirates, officials said.

The fight against corruption is emerging as a major issue in Iraq, with many Iraqis convinced that graft and government mismanagement are nearly as a great a threat to the country as armed insurgency.

Sensing public discontent, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government has seized on the issue, promising stern action against wrongdoers after having been criticized for years for inaction against corruption.

Abdul-Falah al-Sudani, who resigned this month as trade minister, is the highest profile figure arrested so far in an anti-corruption drive launched this year.

Officials rushed an arrest warrant to the Baghdad airport as soon as they learned that al-Sudani had boarded a plane for Dubai. The warrant was served as soon as the plane returned, said Rahim al-Ogaili, chairman of the government’s Commission on Public Integrity.

Al-Sudani, a member of al-Maliki’s Dawa party, is accused of mismanaging the Trade Ministry by importing expired foods, engaging in illegal contracts and employing relatives, al-Ogaili said.