Iraq ex-transport minister wanted for graft

An arrest warrant has been issued by Iraq's anti-corruption watchdog for a former transport minister in connection with a graft inquiry, a lawmaker told AFP on Thursday. Iraq's Integrity Commission also said that an interior ministry lieutenant colonel has been sentenced to death for smuggling kerosene, which his unit was tasked with guarding, to "finance terrorism." The warrant for Luay al-Aris, a minister in former prime minister Iyad Allawi's government, was issued on Wednesday by an investigative judge working for the Integrity Commission. "An arrest warrant has been issued against Luay al-Aris," said Jaafar al-Mussawi, an MP and the spokesman of parliament's own anti-corruption committee. "He is accused of financial corruption, and the investigation is ongoing against others also." Aris has previously appeared in court on corruption charges but has not been convicted. The Integrity Commission said in a statement on Thursday that "the criminal court of Salaheddin issued a death sentence for a lieutenant colonel, the former deputy commander of an oil protection unit in the province, for smuggling 116 tankers of kerosene." Integrity Commission investigators seized the tankers protected by forces under the officer's command, saying he aimed to "finance terrorism" with proceeds from the kerosene sales. The officer was sentenced to death under a 2005 anti-terrorism law, the statement added. "The court will consider other cases against other suspected participants in the smuggling operation," it said, without specifying their number. Iraq is rated by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International as the world's fourth most corrupt country, with diplomats and local officials persistently citing widespread graft as a major impediment to its development.