BAGHDAD, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities have issued
arrest warrants for the former central bank chief and other bank
officials after a probe into corruption, a decision likely to
fuel investor worries the government is interfering with the
bank's autonomy.
The warrants were announced after Iraq's cabinet on Tuesday
ousted director Sinan al-Shibibi over parliamentary charges bank
officials were abusing dollar sales. An independent integrity
watchdog had been investigated the charges.
"The judicial panel of the Integrity Court is investigating
the matter," said Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, a spokesman for the
Supreme Judiciary Council. "They issued the arrest warrant
against Sinan al-Shibibi and other officials in the bank."
The Integrity Court is part of Iraq's Supreme Judicial
Council, which supervises the courts and judicial issues.
The central bank said this week it did not object to the
investigation. Shibibi's whereabouts were not immediately clear.
But the bank chief recently travelled to Tokyo and Europe on
business and it was not clear whether he returned to Iraq.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last year won a court ruling
that put the central bank and other independent bodies under
cabinet supervision, a move his opponents said would allow the
Shi'ite premier to consolidate his power.
Iraq's political system has mired in infighting amoung
Shi'ite, Sunni Muslim and ethnic Kurdish blocks, some of whom
accuse Maliki of failing to fulfill power-sharing agreements in
the cross-sectarian government.
But corruption is rife in the OPEC nation as its oil
industry rebuilds and foreign investors seek to reconstruct its
infrastructure after years of war and sanctions even before the
2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
