'Only $1M?' Iraqi PM's adviser suspected of bribe-taking

Iraq's anti-corruption agency on Monday announced an investigation into a prime ministerial aide over an alleged audio recording in which he referred to a bribe as being too small.

Corruption is endemic in the state institutions of oil-rich Iraq, but the top echelons of power often evade accountability.

The aide, Abdel Karim Al Faisal, denied the accusation and has denounced on Facebook the "fabricated" audio clip.

In the recording obtained by Iraqi media, a man alleged to be Faisal criticised his interlocutor, during a phone call, for the bribe being "only $1 million".

The Commission of Integrity anti-graft body said in a statement it was acting under a directive from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani in opening "an investigation into an audio recording attributed to the head of the Commission of Advisers to the Prime Minister's Office".

It added that it was acting "in coordination with a criminal court judge handling anti-corruption cases".

AFP was not able to authenticate the recording. In the past few weeks several leaks of alleged recordings have shaken Iraq.

Last month, the chief of the tax bureau, Ali Alawi, was suspended for 60 days after an investigation opened following such a leak. An audio recording attributed to him led to accusations that he had granted tax reductions.

He was also placed in detention, a source with the Commission of Integrity told AFP, under cover of anonymity.