By Emma de Ruiter
Published on •Updated
Several Iraqi political officials were arrested early Sunday on corruption charges, Iraq’s state-run Iraqi News Agency reported.
It said the arrests were based on statement made by former Deputy Minister of Oil Adnan al-Jumaili, who was arrested last month, and “included members of Parliament whose immunity had been lifted.”
Iraqi security forces sealed off all entrances to the capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone early Sunday and carried out raids inside the compound that houses key government institutions and foreign embassies.
A security agency report obtained by The Associated Press said that seven people were arrested, among them five members of Parliament. Some of the arrestees were from the political bloc of former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. It was not immediately clear what the specific accusations against them were.
Al-Sudani’s bloc won the largest share of seats in November’s parliamentary elections, but he ultimately stepped aside amid a deadlock in the Coordination Framework — a coalition of Shiite parties allied with Iran that brought al-Sudani to power — over their preferred candidate for premier.
He was replaced by Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman and political newcomer, who emerged as a consensus candidate and received the blessing of the United States.
The arrests are likely to have ripple effects across Iraq’s fractured political landscape, where accusations of corruption frequently intersect with rivalries over power and influence.