Kurdistan transfers eight corruption suspects to Baghdad

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi authorities on Sunday took custody of eight suspects arrested in Erbil on corruption-related charges, including three lawmakers, for transfer to Baghdad to face legal proceedings, security sources told Shafaq News.

The sources said a team from Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity, accompanied by investigators from its Kirkuk office, received the suspects from Kurdistan Region security authorities at the Sherawa checkpoint between Erbil and Kirkuk.

A Kirkuk security source identified the lawmakers as Ziad al-Janabi, Mohammed al-Mayyahi, and Ashwaq al-Jubouri, saying the remaining five detainees were members of their security details.

A separate security source in Kurdistan, however, said the other five detainees were senior government officials.

The transfer followed one of Iraq's largest anti-corruption operations in years. Earlier today, Iraqi security forces detained 47 officials, lawmakers, and businessmen across Baghdad and several provinces, according to security and judicial sources.

Read more: Iraq detains 47 officials in anti-corruption sweep: What we know so far