Former Iraqi official escapes custody

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s former electricity minister, a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen awaiting trial on corruption charges, escaped from a police station in the heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday with the help of private security agents, an Iraqi anti-corruption official said Monday.

Several men wearing flak jackets walked into the police station about 2:30p.m. Sunday; within a quarter-hour, they had taken away Aiham al-Sammarae, said Radhi al-Radhi, head of the Commission on Public Integrity, an Iraqi organization created by the United States that had been investigating al-Sammarae. Al-Radhi said the men appeared to be Americans.

Al-Sammarae was one of several Iraqi exiles who had returned to rebuild the country after the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s government. As the country’s electrical infrastructure deteriorated, al-Sammarae was accused of misusing about $2 billion. In October, he was found guilty of one charge of corruption and sentenced to two years in jail. That conviction was overturned last week, but he still faces trial on at least 10 other counts.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed Monday that al-Sammarae “has been reported missing” by the Iraqi police. “There are conflicting reports surrounding his disappearance,” said Lou Fintor, a U.S. Embassy spokesman.

U.S. troops briefly took custody of al-Sammarae after his October conviction because he feared being killed in jail.

The New York Times cited on its Web site Monday night a statement from al-Sammarae’s lawyer, saying that al-Sammarae had been released on bail.

Al-Radhi disputed that, saying that the security agents arrived in GMC pickup trucks and outnumbered the police officers, who did not put up a fight. The commission did not learn of the escape until after midnight, he said.

Also Monday, the U.S. military reported that a soldier assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division died from combat wounds in Anbar province Friday, and a Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died there Saturday. North of Baghdad, one soldier was killed and another was injured Monday when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle they were in rolled over.