Iraqi authorities are continuing their efforts to strengthen the recovery of public funds and pursue corruption suspects abroad, after the Federal Integrity Commission announced the preparation of draft memorandums of understanding with several countries, while noting disparities in the level of international cooperation, alongside new judicial measures to combat financial and administrative corruption.

Abbas Mutab, director general of the Recovery Department at the Integrity Commission, said in a statement to the official news agency that some countries cooperate with Iraq in recovering funds from corrupt individuals, while others do not 'for their own reasons.'

Mutab explained that the Recovery Department has prepared a draft for signing memorandums of understanding with those countries to recover funds and suspects, stressing continued follow-up on this file with various countries according to current developments, but noted that the domestic laws of some countries do not allow implementing specific procedures requested by Iraq.

He added that Iraq also relies on negotiation tracks, alongside alternative mechanisms to enhance cooperation with concerned countries, indicating that the lack of cooperation from some countries is due to multiple considerations, including economic or humanitarian reasons, as well as the fact that some corruption suspects have taken refuge in those countries, complicating extradition procedures.

In a related context, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council announced on Friday a new package of measures as part of efforts to combat financial and administrative corruption, including an agreement with the Prime Minister to ease legal procedures against suspects who voluntarily return stolen funds, while continuing to pursue those involved in major corruption cases and working to recover public funds.

The council also announced an order to work on returning Nour Zuhair, the main suspect in the 'theft of the century' case, to Iraq after a default sentence of ten years in prison was issued, noting that the equivalent of $280 million had been recovered in the same case.

In another development related to corruption cases, the report indicated that the arrest of former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili last May led to the uncovering of a wide corruption network, after he confessed to the involvement of lawmakers, officials, and businessmen in the case.