Iraqi lawmaker admits to accepting bribes: 'Whole government corrupt'

Iraq's parliament voted on Thursday to form an investigative committee to look into Iraqi lawmaker Mishaan al-Jubouri's television statement that he received bribes to close corruption cases.

Jubouri appeared on an Iraqi satellite television station last week and said that everyone in government or parliament was corrupt "including me."

"I received bribes to close a corruption file, but I didn't close it. I took a few million (US) dollars but didn't close the case," he told the Aletejah TV interviewer.

He went on to say that he did not consider this to be a bribe but that he fooled the "corrupt dog."

Parliamentary sources told The New Arab the Iraqi parliament on Thursday voted for "forming a committee to question MP Mishaan al-Jubouri over his comments in which he admitted to receiving bribes as well as other remarks in which he said there were (other) corrupt parliamentarians and government ministers."

Jubouri said during the interview that if he was to "reveal everything on satellite television they would immediately kill me."

We in the Commission of Integrity open corruption files, then they give us a bribe, so we close the files - Mishaan al-Jubouri

"The whole of the ruling political class is involved in corruption and we are all in cahoots with them one way or another," Jubouri added.

"We in the Commission of Integrity open corruption files, then they give us a bribe, so we close the files."

The investigative committee is likely to refer the case to the Iraqi judiciary, according to Iraqi lawmaker Mohammad al-Jaf.

Jaf told The New Arab: "This is a criminal case and it is now public."

The public will want answers and the judiciary will need to be transparent with its investigations, he added.

"We politicians are the reason behind Iraq's destruction, and the political class … are to blame for every hungry child in the country and every ill Iraqi who dies for the lack of medicine," Jubouris told his television interviewer.