Dhi Qar governor takes over Nasiriya municipality amid corruption probes

NASIRIYA, Iraq — Dhi Qar Governor Haysam Hamdani assumed administrative control of Nasiriya municipality on Monday, ordering a series of dismissals and administrative changes, the governorate said. Hamdani said he had taken over the municipality from a lower-level official and would support the work of the judiciary and the Commission on Integrity, calling on the provincial council and residents to back anti-corruption efforts. The move follows judicial and security operations against municipal employees over land and public property files. Security sources said former municipal director Muhammad Abd Latif was detained on Saturday as part of the land-file investigations. Security forces working with Commission on Integrity teams seized files on roughly 600 residential land plots that a wanted municipal employee had left in the Salihiya area. A wide-scale operation on Friday targeted more than 20 people, including employees of the municipality, the land registry and the lawyers' syndicate, on charges of causing heavy damage to public property. The Nasiriya Corruption Investigation Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for eight municipal employees, including former director Kahtan Adnan and a former property director, city planning director and land distribution commission secretary. No further details were immediately available on the status of the proceedings.