The Iraqi government will take tough action if it discovers there was corruption in the awarding of contracts for the purchase of bomb-detecting equipment, a lawmaker said Sunday.
"The government will take stern measures if it feels there has been corruption in the awarding of contracts, including for the import of explosives-detectors," ruling-party lawmaker Ali al-Adib said in remarks published Sunday.
"A diversity of sources in the search for the best and most efficient services is the best way to safeguard the lives and property of the citizens and the state," he told Baghdad's al-Sabbah daily.
The government's admission earlier this month that it had purchased tens of millions of dollars' worth of explosive-detecting wands for up to 60,000 dollars each in a no-bid contract with a British company scandalised many Iraqis, particularly following a series of deadly bombings in central Baghdad.
Iraqi Interior Ministry officials initially defended their purchase of the ADE 651 from a company called ATSC (UK) Ltd when confronted with US studies that found the wands performed no better than chance. But Iraqi officials have since backed off those defences, after the British director of the company was arrested on fraud charges last week.
"We are conducting a criminal investigation and as part of that a 53-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation," a police spokesman announced last week. The ADE 651 purports to detect explosives and to be powered by static electricity generated by its user.