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Can Iraq curb corruption among customs officials?

Corruption on Iraq's borders is robbing the government of the customs income its budget depends on.
Iranian trucks wait to return to Iran through the Iraq-Iran border crossing of Haj Omran 25 September 2007.  Iran's sudden closure of its border with northern Iraq caused trucking chaos at the frontier today, as experts warned of severe economic fallout and traders scrambled for goods. Tehran said yesterday it was closing its frontier with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in protest at the detention last week of an Iranian by US troops. AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty I
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BAGHDAD — The head of the Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi parliament, Hakem al-Zamili, has spoken out about the corruption prevailing over Iraq's border crossings. In a press conference held Oct. 3, he stated that the state was not benefiting from financial revenue that is directly going into the pockets of corrupt officials.

Corruption is robbing the state of potential revenue from the tariff law implemented this year to reduce the deficit in the current budget, which amounted to 24 trillion dinars ($18 billion). The General Customs Authority has announced that it had expected to collect $5 billion this year, but only $306.5 million had been received as of August. 

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