Counter Terrorism Service vehicles deploy near Baghdad’s Green Zone during Sunday’s security operation.
State media ties Green Zone arrests to Jumaili testimony
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s state news agency on Sunday linked [a sweeping pre-dawn security operation inside Baghdad’s Green Zone to a widening corruption investigation, reporting that several lawmakers and senior officials were arrested based on confessions by detained Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili.
Citing a senior source, the Iraqi News Agency said the arrests targeted suspects identified during Jumaili’s interrogation, including members of parliament whose immunity had been lifted and other senior officials named in his testimony.
The source said Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi “will not hesitate to pursue corrupt officials and those involved in the misuse of public funds.”
The report is the first official explanation for the large-scale operation that unfolded before dawn Sunday inside the Green Zone, where armored convoys, tanks and Counter Terrorism Service units deployed across the heavily fortified district.
Residents reported several minutes of light and medium weapons fire during the operation, while ambulances were seen entering residential compounds housing senior officials. Earlier reports from local sources said several politicians, lawmakers and advisers had been detained, though authorities had not confirmed those accounts at the time.
The agency said the arrests stemmed from confessions by Jumaili, who was detained this month in an anti-corruption investigation involving the Oil Ministry. It did not name those arrested or specify the allegations under investigation.
Until the report, no statement had come from the prime minister’s office, the Joint Operations Command, the Interior Ministry, the Counter Terrorism Service or other government bodies explaining the deployment, and state media had not covered the operation.
Jumaili, who served as deputy oil minister for extraction affairs, was detained earlier this month over alleged financial irregularities in the oil sector, one of the highest-profile anti-corruption cases under Zaidi’s government. Officials had disclosed little about the investigation beyond confirming he was in custody.