WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A congressional panel Thursday quizzed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on charges of corruption at the highest levels of the Iraqi government.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, raised claims that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a decree that would shield top Iraqi leaders from corruption investigations unless he approved.
Rice acknowledged corruption was “a pervasive problem” in Iraq.
"I am certain that we are tracking these allegations of corruption," Rice told the committee. "No one is more concerned about what is, in fact, a pervasive problem of corruption than we are."
Waxman asked Rice about the decree, which came to light during a previous committee hearing.
"Prime Minister Maliki has issued an order saying that he may not be investigated nor may his ministers be investigated for corruption, which means they're immunized from any investigation for corruption... ," Waxman said.
"(It) would not be the intention of the United States of America that any official in Iraq, including the prime minister, the president or members of the Council of Representatives would be immune from investigation for corruption," Rice responded.
