Iraqi Kurdistan oil minister Ashti Hawrami. Photo: AFP
SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— The head of Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament’s natural resources committee, MP Sherko Jawdat, said on Saturday that a court in the town of Chamchamal has issued an arrest warrant for the region’s Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami on corruption charges.
Jawdat told NRT that he raised the issue with the court after obtaining evidence and documents pointing to misuse of power and corruption.
Jawdat also accused Hawrami’s former wife Chrakhan Rafiq of involvement in business dealings that purchased oil from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and sold it on the black market with for a monthly revenue of nearly $10 million.
Rafiq has fought back against allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds since May 2016.
Massoud Barzani issued a detention order for Rafiq at that time, according to the official website of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
“The court issued an arrest warrant for Ashti Hawrami and a number of other officials, saying they need to appear before court,” Jawdat said.
“A fake plant named Zipo is operating by Ashti Hawrami’s approval and specialist committees in the Ministry of Natural Resources.”
According to Jawdat, the Ministry of Trade and Industry confirmed that no Zipo plant exists in the region.
NRT however contacted an investigator working on the case who said Hawrami was not named among three defendants listed in the complaint.
The investigator added that the case has been transferred to the Sulaimani Board of Integrity for further investigation.
Need to be mentioned that Chamchamal city is located in the area which under control of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK while Ashti Hawrami a member in the KDP party and live in the area which is controlled by his party.
Ashti Hawrami routinely accused of corruption by observers, Kurdish officials.
Many Kurdish politicians and observers believe that many of the oil industry projects in Iraqi Kurdistan are conducted in a non-transparent way. Some have even described them as secretive.
Members of Kurdistan Parliament have claimed that millions of dollars have gone missing from the region. The region’s Ministry of Natural Resources has rebutted those accusations as unfounded.
Massoud Barzani has been accused by critics of amassing huge wealth for his family instead of serving the population. Barzani’s son is the Kurdistan region’s intelligence chief and his nephew Nechirvan Barzani is the prime minister.
Source: http://ekurd.net/warrant-arrest-kurdistan-oil-2016-10-09