Iraq PM Wants Probe of Oil Allegations

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's prime minister has ordered an investigation into corruption allegations against senior oil ministers following an expose into bribe-taking published in international media outlets.

In a statement Saturday, Haider al-Abadi ordered "immediate" action by both the anti-corruption commission and the judiciary following reports published by the Huffington Post and Australia's Fairfax media into large-scale bribe taking by Monaco-based Unaoil company.

The reports names four senior Iraqi officials, including two oil ministers, as having received bribes from Unaoil between 2004 and 2012. The publications said they drew on information gleaned from hundreds of thousands of internal emails dated between 2002 and 2012 for their six-month investigation.

The revelations come as al-Abadi faces mounting criticism over government corruption and long overdue political reform.

(KA)