Iraq parliament: corruption case

Senior Iraqi officials announced that they have launched a probe into corruption accusations against the country's parliament speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi."The anti-corruption committee is going to start investigations into the financial corruption case (accusations) of Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi," chairman of the Iraqi parliament's Committee for Campaign against Administrative Corruption Baha al-Araji told FNA. Media reports in Iraq have leveled several corruption accusations against al-Nujaifi in recent days, including questions about the source of a $600,000 sum he has spent on repairing his house. Some Iraqi officials have also blamed al-Nujaifi for his too frequent visits to foreign countries. In a recent interview with an Iraqi news agency, Hannan al-Fatlawi, an Iraqi parliament member from the State of Law Coalition, rapped al-Nujaifi for his frequent visits to foreign countries, saying, "Is Nujaifi Iraq's parliament speaker or foreign minister that has taken up diplomatic duties?""What are the fruits of these numerous visits to the other countries? Are there any other officials in the other countries who make so many travels?"Iraqi people have staged several massive demonstrations in the country's capital city of Baghdad and other cities against weak public services and corruption in the war torn country. During a large rally held in Baghdad's al-Tahrir (Freedom) Square in September, hundreds of Iraqis voiced their protest at the continued occupation of their country and the corruption in the country. They also urged the government to improve social services and life style in the country and speed up measures to increase employment and fight against financial corruption.