Iraqi authorities have arrested 47 officials in an anti-corruption campaign led by new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) said on Sunday.
INA quoted senior officials as saying the suspects had been “arrested on corruption charges” and included MPs and officials from the oil ministry.
Iraq’s Commission of Integrity said the arrests were carried out in Baghdad after “diligent and continuous monitoring” during a major overnight operation that reportedly led to the detention of multiple former officials, lawmakers and businessmen across the country.
According to the broadcaster Rudaw, security services raided the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, which houses numerous ministries and upmarket hotels.
Zaidi, a businessman with little political experience, was chosen by the Coordination Framework to try to form a new government in April.
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One of his key tasks is cracking down on corruption, which has been widespread in Iraq for decades and which successive prime ministers have promised, but failed, to tackle.
Transparency International regularly ranks Iraq among the world’s most corrupt countries, placing it 136th out of 182 countries on its Corruption Perceptions Index.
