Mission Accomplished

Under Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government between $1.3 billion and $2.3 billion was looted from the defense ministry. A further $600-800 million is also missing from the ministries of transport, electricity, interior and other ministries. This was the government left in charge after Bremer departed and was the Bush administrations “pick” to win the elections. Warrant expected for former Iraq defense minister 19 Sep 2005 17:10:10 GMT Source: Reuters By Luke Baker BAGHDAD, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Iraq is expected to issue an arrest warrant for its former defense minister in the coming days in connection with the disappearance of more than $1 billion, a senior corruption investigator said on Monday. Radhi al-Radhi, the head of Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, said he had handed a file of evidence against Hazim Shaalan, who served in Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government, to Iraq's central criminal court two months ago and expected a warrant for his arrest to be issued soon. Shaalan, who is living in Jordan and also spends time in London, has denied any wrongdoing and has said that whatever he did was ultimately approved of by American authorities. Radhi told Reuters: "What Shaalan and his ministry were responsible for is possibly the largest robbery in the world. "Our estimates begin at $1.3 billion and go up to $2.3 billion," he said in an interview in his fortified Baghdad office. "I expect the court will issue the warrants in the next week to 10 days, for Shaalan and for other senior officials." Read more: Reuters and The Independent