Iraqi governor jailed for extortion

By Colin Freeman in Baghdad

The US-appointed governor of Iraq's holy Shia city of Najaf, Haydar Abdul Munim, has been jailed for 14 years on charges of corruption, extortion and false imprisonment.

Munim was arrested along with 62 of his militia

Judges at Iraq's newly-convened central criminal court in Baghdad announced the verdict on Monday after a trial that lasted several months.

Munim was made the mayor of Najaf by grateful US troops after winning their trust by feeding them tip-offs about Baath Party fighters.

But within weeks of taking office last April, locals had dubbed him Saddam II after he began stealing cars, extorting public funds from bank officials and kidnapping anybody who got in his way.

Munim was assisted in his crimes by his brother Mohamed, known as the Monster, who ran his own private army of 150 henchmen and is still at large.

'Nobody above the law'

The case has proved hugely embarrassing for Coalition forces, who initially ignored repeated complaints about Munim's behaviour.

This man became a second Saddam, and arrested anybody who got in his way Rahim Numan, investigative judge

He was only arrested at the end of June, after US troops hunting for three missing teenagers found them imprisoned in the mayoral offices - which lay within the walls of their own heavily-guarded HQ.

"Many people here couldn't believe when we said we'd arrested the governor," Rachel Roe, a Najaf-based US Army reservist involved in the investigation against Munim, said.

"But it shows them that nobody here now is above the law," Ms Roe added.

Chaotic times

Munim began wooing US troops from the day they captured Najaf, being one of the first people to come out and greet their tanks.

Najaf is regarded as a holy city by Shia Muslims

The former Army colonel, who claimed to have worked in military intelligence, soon became one of the first public officials to be appointed in the post-war Iraq.

The sheer lack of other suitable candidates at the time, it seems, overrode possible reservations about his background.

"In that chaotic time, he (Munim) was one of the very few people they could trust," Ms Roe said.

'President of Najaf'

But between meetings with US Army generals, he and his brother set up an empire of fear very similar to the one they were supposed to replace.

In an echo of Saddam's megalomania, he even styled himself the President of Najaf.

During Munim's trial, which was part-heard last month, the court heard that Munim attempted to extort up to $50,000 in public funds by threatening a local bank official.

His men are also said to have set up roadblocks which impounded cars with government number plates, to be sold on to criminal contacts in Saudi Arabia and Kurdistan.

It is claimed up to 2,000 vehicles were stolen that way.

The case has raised widespread concerns about the quality of the vetting procedures used to select thousands of officials now serving in Iraq's hastily-reassembled administration.

Many fear even more serious cases may be going undetected.