Abdel Falah Hassan Hamadi al-Sudani is an Iraqi politician who was the

Minister of Trade A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial polic ...

from May 2006 to May 2009 in the government of Nouri al-Maliki. He previously served as Education Minister in the Iraqi Transitional Government from May 2005 to May 2006.

Background

Sudani was born in Basra in 1947 and went into exile in Britain in the late 1970s. In 1981 received a doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Wales. He is a member of the

Islamic Dawa Party - Iraq Organisation Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...

Minister

Sudani was appointed as Education Minister in the Iraqi Transitional Government in May 2005. The following year, following the election of Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister, he was moved to Minister of Trade. In June 2006

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n troops mistakenly shot dead one of his bodyguards, provoking a diplomatic crisis.

Corruption charges

On 3 May 2009, arrest warrants were issued by the anti-corruption ''Integrity Commission'' on eight trade ministry officials, including two of al-Sudani's brothers and the head of the Iraqi Grain Board. The head of the

Council of Representatives of Iraq The Council of Representatives ( ar, مجلس النواب, Majlis an-Nuwwāb al-ʿIrāqiyy; ku, ئه‌نجومه‌نی نوێنه‌ران, ''Enjumen-e Nûnerên''), usually referred to simply as the Parliament is the unicameral legislature o ...

's Integrity Committee, Sabah al-Saedi from the Islamic Virtue Party, called on al-Sudani to resign. al-Saedi said the ministry had become "''a remarkable source of corruption and squandering of public funds''" When the official arrived to arrest the accused, there was a fifteen-minute gunbattle between Iraqi troops and ministry bodyguards. One suspect was arrested but the other eight managed to escape. He resigned as Trade Minister on 14 May. At first, the Prime Minister delayed accepting this whilst the parliamentary investigation was on-going. He appeared before the parliamentary committee on 16–17 May, admitting that corruption had taken place and the system had to be changed. Finally, the Prime Minister accepted his resignation on 26 May.Iraq trade minister quits amid corruption allegations
'' Bloomberg L.P.'' via ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'', 2009-05-26 Al-Sudany faced a vote of no confidence on May 27 from the parliament to determine whether he should face criminal charges. Three days later he was arrested at

Baghdad airport Baghdad International Airport , previously Saddam International Airport ( ar, مطار بغداد الدولي, Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy) is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in th ...

as he was trying to fly to Dubai. He was interrogated in prison by anti-corruption officials for eight days and then released on bail of 50 million dinars. In June 2012 he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to seven years in jail for corruption relating to a food import programme. In January 2018 he was extradited from Lebanon and handed over to Iraqi authorities after the Interpol assisted in his arrest. In February 2018, al-Sudani was found guilty by an Iraqi court and sentenced to 21 years in jail on corruption charges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudani, Abdel Falah 1947 births Living people Government ministers of Iraq Alumni of the University of Wales People from Basra Islamic Dawa Party – Iraq Organisation politicians Iraqi politicians convicted of crimes