[JURIST] Adel al-Lami, the director general of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, and 10 other employees have been arrested after al-Lami surrendered to an arrest warrant, Judge Radhi al-Radhi [US DOD OIG profile], chairman of the Iraqi High Commission on Public Integrity [US State Dept. backgrounder], said Tuesday. The 11 suspects were arrested on charges of corruption after five members of the IECI told the High Commission that al-Lami and other employees had wasted public money. Al-Lami has also sued five former colleagues on corruption charges.

The IECI was responsible for monitoring last year's Iraqi general elections in January [JURIST report] and December [JURIST news archive], as well as the October referendum [JURIST report] on the Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.