Dhi Qar governor takes over Nasiriyah municipality administration

Shafaq News- Dhi Qar

Dhi Qar Governor Haitham al-Hamdani took over the administration of Nasiriyah municipality on Monday, issuing decisions to dismiss and reassign staff following judicial and security actions targeting municipal employees in cases involving land allocation and public funds.

According to the governor's media office, al-Hamdani said the local government backs the measures being taken by the judiciary and the Commission of Integrity, Iraq's independent anti-corruption authority, and he called on the provincial council and residents to support the fight against corruption.

The moves follow a series of arrests. A security source reported on Saturday that authorities had detained Mohammed Abd Lilu, a former director of the Nasiriyah municipality, in connection with land-file cases. In the al-Salhiya area, a security force working with the Commission of Integrity team recovered about 600 files on residential land plots that a wanted municipal employee had left behind before fleeing to an unknown location. Security and intelligence forces also launched an operation to pursue more than 20 people, among them employees of the municipality, the real estate registration department, and the bar association, on charges of causing serious damage to public funds.

Earlier, the Nasiriyah investigation court handling integrity cases issued arrest warrants for eight municipal employees, including senior officials. Among them were former municipal director Qahtan Adnan, a former property director, the director of city planning, and the secretary of the land-distribution committee.