Iraq
Iraqi boys ride bicycles on a street still full of rubble in Mosul, on the anniversary of the recapture of the northern Iraqi city from ISIS, on July 10, 2021. Photo: Zaid al-Obeidi/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The United Kingdom has sanctioned a former governor of Nineveh, one of five people blacklisted for allegations of corruption, the foreign secretary announced on Thursday.
Nawfal Hamadi al-Sultan “has been involved in serious corruption in his role as Governor of Nineveh province, Iraq, where he misappropriated public funds intended for reconstruction efforts and to provide support for civilians, and improperly awarded contracts and other state property,” read the UK statement.
Hamadi was sacked as governor by the parliament in 2019, days after about 100 people died in a ferry accident in Mosul. That same year, Iraq’s Integrity Commission found officials close to Hamadi embezzled nearly $64 million from funds allocated for reconstruction of Mosul after the war with the Islamic State group (ISIS) and he was sanctioned by the US.
In February, Hamadi was handed two prison sentences of three and two years by the anti-corruption court, convicted of misuse of public funds through fake public works between 2017 and 2019. Four years after ISIS was routed from Mosul, areas of the city are still rubble.
The sanctions are part of a crackdown on global corruption and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the United Kingdom is committed to fighting the scourge worldwide.
“The action we have taken today targets individuals who have lined their own pockets at the expense of their citizens. The UK is committed to fighting the blight of corruption and holding those responsible for its corrosive effect to account. Corruption drains the wealth of poorer nations, keeps their people trapped in poverty and poisons the well of democracy,” he said.
British ambassador to Iraq Mark Bryson-Richardson said London is supporting the Iraqi government’s anti-corruption efforts. The UK government is committed “to stopping corrupt individuals using the UK as a safe haven,” he said.
Graft has been rife for years in Iraq, which annually comes out near the bottom in global corruption rankings. President Barham Salih in May announced a draft bill to combat corruption and recover an estimated $150 billion that has been taken out of the country since 2003.
Officials from Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela were also sanctioned by the UK.
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