Iraqi defense min. ousted after vote of no confidence

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraq's defense minister was removed from his post Thursday after getting a no-confidence vote from the parliament, according to Iraq's state-run television.

Khaled al-Obeidi received 142 votes of no confidence out of 262 in the 328-member parliament.

In a statement after his removal, al-Obeidi said: "At last, those who brought Iraq to this condition have succeeded. People and army, forgive me. I tried to fight corruption. But it seems that those who foster the ones involved in corruption are stronger, and their voices are higher."

Al-Obeidi thanked those who voted for him and said he would remain a soldier of the Iraqi army.

On August 16, 65 Iraqi lawmakers had called for sacking the defense minister.

“A total of 65 MPs from different political blocs have signed a petition to sack al-Obeidi,” MP Hanen Qado had told Anadolu Agency.

The move came one day after around 200 MPs said they were unconvinced with the minister’s answers during a parliamentary inquiry into corruption allegations.

Al-Obeidi had been embroiled in a row after accusing the parliament speaker and a number of lawmakers allegedly requesting him to pay $2 million in bribes in return for not questioning him into corruption allegation.

Iraq ranks 161st out of 168 countries on Transparency International’s "corruption perceptions index".