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How Iraqi real estate became the subject of corrupt dealings

Real estate in Baghdad and other Iraqi areas has been subject to corrupt deals and law violations for some time, sparking governmental and popular concern about a growing phenomenon involving criminal gangs and corrupt public employees.
A "For Sale" sign hangs outside the gate of a house in Baghdad September 10, 2008. A dramatic fall in violence has breathed life into Baghdad's once moribund property market, but the hunt for homes in Sunni and Shi'ite enclaves bodes ill for sectarian reconciliation in the Iraqi capital.  To match feature IRAQ/REALESTATE    REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz (IRAQ) - RTR21W89
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Baghdad — When the Iraqi Commission of Integrity Court entered a default judgment Oct. 16 against the head of the Karbala Real Estate Registration Directorate, ordering her imprisonment for tampering with citizens' real estate records, it came not as a surprise but rather as a manifestation of a known underlying phenomenon.

This situation has been raising both popular and governmental concern, as it has spread to various regions, such as Babil, south of Baghdad, where a case of corruption was reported at the Real Estate Registration Directorate earlier this year. In Baghdad, this phenomenon is even more pervasive, according to the parliamentary integrity commission's annual report published March 3; this prompted an investigation into forged property deeds.

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