Lebanon returns convicted ex-minister to Iraq

By Gulsen Topcu

BAGHDAD

Iraq’s Commission on Public Integrity (COI) on Thursday received its former minister of commerce, Abdel Falah al-Sudani, who was convicted on corruption charges, according to local authorities.

Al-Sudani was among four ministers who have held posts in Iraq since 2004 and had arrest warrants issued from the judiciary. He was the first to be extradited from another country.

Authorities of Baghdad International Airport said al-Sudani was handed over by Interpol after being arrested in Lebanon.

Al-Sudani, part of Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s Dawa Party, was sentenced in absentia in 2012 to seven years in jail for corruption.

Al-Sudani was accused of embezzling state funds through the misappropriation of a sale of 30,000 tons of cooking oil, which did not meet required specifications, and was distributed to citizens.