Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq's CoordinationFramework (CF), the ruling coalition of mostly Shiite parties that dominatesparliament and government, agreed to pursue corruption suspects throughjudicial orders rather than security or military force, and to seek theextradition of fugitives with the cooperation of five countries.
A source within the CFwho spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of thediscussions said the participants in Monday’s meeting endorsed the use offormal judicial summonses to detain suspects accused of financial corruptionand the misuse of public money, moving away from operations involving “securityforces and tanks,” calling for transparency around ongoing investigations intodetainees held under the campaign.
The measures fallunder the Dawn Crackdown, anti-corruption campaign, which al-Zaidi leads andsupervises directly. Coalition leaders pledged to keep backing the government'sactions, the source said, though some voiced displeasure over informationcirculating about the nature of the investigations and the sums to berecovered.
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Five countries haveagreed to cooperate with Iraq in pursuing and extraditing suspects throughInterpol red notices, which are international requests to locate andprovisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition. Three were identifiedby the source as the United States, France, and Britain, a fourth only as anArab state, while the fifth remains unknown.
For extradition toproceed, the coalition stressed that arrest warrants must be issued by the JusticeMinistry rather than the Iraqi Judicial Council, the country's top judicialbody, because most international agreements on handing over corruption suspectsrequire warrants from the ministry.
Al-Zaidi is scheduledto travel to Washington in mid-July, his first official foreign visit sinceassuming the premiership. The Framework expects the trip to secure the releaseof part of Iraq's bank transfers held by international banks and the US FederalReserve, help trace and recover funds moved out of the country, and locatesuspects abroad, the source said, stressing that fugitives should be returnedand prosecuted under Iraqi law, "even if they hold a second nationality orenjoy external support."
The coalition alsoweighed the nine unfilled ministries but is likely to defer those appointmentsuntil after the Washington visit, the source said. The State of Law bloc, ledby former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is insisting on its candidate QasimAtta for the Interior Ministry, while preparing to submit six names foral-Zaidi to choose from.
Participants furtherdiscussed closing the file on dissolving armed factions and transferring theirlight and heavy weapons to state control. Baghdad has tied full disarmament toa timeline running to the end of September, linked to the conclusion of theUS-led coalition's mission in Iraq.
The Washington visitand the outstanding cabinet appointments remain the coalition's next tests,with ministerial decisions held until al-Zaidi returns, the source concluded.
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