Travel bans for 60 Iraqi officials over Mosul takeover

Iraqi military and civil officials were accused of corruption and treason late on Wednesday night, receiving immediate travel bans, political and security sources have revealed.

As many as 60 personnel face a grilling over their alleged roles in the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State group (IS, formerly known as Isis).

"In his capacity as head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister [Haidar al-]Abadi issued the travel ban against 60 military officials, sending their names to all land ports and airports in the country, including in the Kurdistan region," said a senior Iraqi civil servant.

"The decision was endorsed by a court order," he told al-Araby al-Jadeed. "It comes after the said officials were accused of financial and administrative corruption, as well as accusations of treason and escaping confrontation against armed groups in Mosul, leading to its fall."

The said officials were accused of financial and administrative corruption, as well as accusations of treason. - Anonymous official

Mosul was seized by the Islamic State group on 10 June last year as Iraqi army units tasked with the city's defence panicked and fled.

In November, it was revealed that the Iraqi army had 50,000 so-called "ghost soldiers" in its ranks - men who did not actually exist, but whose salaries were still paid, to corrupt commanders and officials. This meant the actual combat strength of the Iraqi army was far less than it appeared on paper.

The senior official added that all names banned from travel were members of Nouri al-Maliki's former government and his associates. "The decision was followed by freezing their fixed and movable assets."

An official in the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority at Baghdad International Airport confirmed the report.

Among those banned from leaving the country are believed to be two ministers from Maliki's government, reportedly including former Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi.

There are also six former MPs and 29 military commanders, - including the commander of the ground forces, his deputy, and the chief of staff of the Iraqi government, the aviation official told al-Araby. 

Commanders of the Iraqi army's Second Division, formerly headquartered in Mosul, and the commanders of operations in Nineveh and Saladin provinces have also been banned from travel.