Parliamentary efforts to investigate $ 150 billion armaments contracts

Shafaq News / The Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee revealed that it is working to open arms contracts files, including the F16 aircraft and BTR armored vehicles file.

Parliamentary figures estimate the amounts that previous governments spent on armaments between 2006 and 2016 at $ 150 billion from various origins, amid talk of great corruption suspicions.

A committee member, Ali Al-Ghanimi, told Shafaq News Agency, "The Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee is determined to open all armament contracts files for the Ministry of Defense, most notably the Croatian and Ukrainian armored vehicles, in addition to the BTR armored vehicles."

He added, "The committee is following the issue closely and will work to reopen all arms contract files and investigate the parties involved, at the request of the Integrity Commission.

Al-Ghanimi pointed out, "the most prominent files that will be opened soon are the file of arming the Iraqi air force with American F16 planes and Russian Sukhoi."

In his turn, a former member of the Security and Defense Committee, Hakim Al-Zamili, said that the armament contracts in Iraq include huge sums that can arm an entire continent, in reference to the level of corruption that dominated these deals.

According to the Transparency International index, Iraq has been among the most corrupt countries in the world, which raises the discontent of the population that have been protesting for many years against the lack of public services, such as electricity, health, education and others.