Iraq’s prime minister took a first step Saturday to combat cross-border corruption that has long plagued the country’s frontiers as part of a reform plan to grapple with unprecedented financial shortfalls. Mustafa al-Kadhimi launched a campaign to recover “hundreds of millions” of Iraqi dinars in import tax revenue lost to bribery in the northern province of Diyala. In the first phase, security forces from the Interior Ministry will supervise the work of border guards to ensure proper payment of tariffs at the Mandili border crossing with Iran, he told reporters.
