[JURIST] The Iraqi government named Moussa Faraj as chair of the Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) [ICAC backgrounder] Thursday. Farag will replace Radhi al-Radhi [US DOD OIG profile], who has retired in light of corruption accusations brought by the Iraqi parliament's anti-corruption committee. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accepted al-Radhi's retirement and temporarily appointed Faraj to the post until Faraj receives approval by parliament. Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani objected to al-Radhi's retirement, saying al-Maliki only has the power to remove the head of a government organization, not an independent commission. Faraj had served under al-Radhi as the deputy chairman of the CPI.

The CPI was established [press release] in 2004 and has the power to investigate complaints, refer criminal violations to the courts, and propose legislation to address corruption. In April , a US auditor's report [PDF text; JURIST report] found that efforts to combat widespread corruption in Iraq [JURIST news archive] were being hindered by security problems and al-Maliki's reinstatement of a provision of the country's Saddam-era criminal procedure code [PDF text] allowing ministers to block corruption investigations of their own departments. AP has more.