Perspective: General in 'ghost army' inquiry is still in command

Members of the 'Fallujah Brigade' with rocket propelled grenades discovered in an empty house.

An Iraqi general suspected of embezzling soldiers’ pay and selling weapons and fuel on the black market is still in his post more than two weeks after a high-ranking US and Iraqi military committee recommended that he be removed.

Lieutenant-General Nasier al-Abadi, the Iraqi Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, told The Times yesterday that the orders against General Khalid Jawad Khadim, issued on January 6, had yet to be carried out. A letter removing General Khadim from his post formally would be sent soon, he said.

General Khadim would then serve as a staff officer in Anbar province, until the formal investigation of corruption charges against him begins.

The wrangling over his future was revealed only after General Khadim’s name was highlighted by a Times investigation into corruption in the Iraqi Armed Forces. The failure to remove him promptly is a further sign of deep-rooted problems at the Iraqi Defence Ministry and underlines US concerns about channelling more weapons to the frontline, as requested by Nouri al- Maliki, the Prime Minister.

Read the rest at the Times of London