BAGHDAD: Iraq on Sunday called on the United States and Britain to extradite former officials accused of facilitating the theft of $2.5 billion in public funds in one of the country’s biggest-ever corruption cases.
Iraq’s judiciary issued arrest warrants at the beginning of March for four men, including a former finance minister and staff members of former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who Baghdad says all live outside the country.
Haider Hanoun, the head of the Iraqi Commission for Integrity, on Sunday called on “competent authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom to cooperate in executing the arrest warrants issued against them”, without specifying where the suspects are located.
He said in a statement that Interpol had issued Red Notices against Kadhemi’s cabinet director Raed Jouhi and personal secretary Ahmed Najati, both of whom hold American citizenship. Another Red Notice has been issued for former finance minister Ali Allawi, “who holds British citizenship,” Hanoun added.
An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but asks authorities worldwide to provisionally detain people pending possible extradition or other legal actions.
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