Searching for ghosts: fighting corruption at Iraq’s border crossings

Ali Saleem, Zmkan and Skelton, Mac (2021) Searching for ghosts: fighting corruption at Iraq’s border crossings. Conflict Research Programme Blog (24 Feb 2021). Blog Entry.

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Abstract

Protests last year decried corruption as the main source of the Iraq’s struggles in the post-2003 area. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi came to office in the wake of the protests, and soon began a campaign to address the problem at one of the sites most notorious for corruption: the country’s border crossings. Beginning in July 2020, two months after he assumed office, Kadhimi travelled to a border crossing on the Iraq-Iran border located in Diyala province. With security officials standing to his left and right, he proclaimed a “new era” in fighting corruption, and that border guards now had the authorisation to “shoot” at those who violate the rules of the customs zone. Kadhimi then turned to the head of Iraq’s border authority and instructed him to “search for ghosts”, referring to an unnamed network of actors involved in profiting off illicit cross-border trade.

Item Type:	Online resource (Blog Entry)
Official URL:	https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations J Political Science > JQ Political institutions Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific
Date Deposited:	31 Mar 2021 13:24
Last Modified:	14 Sep 2024 02:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/109075

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