Iraqi Prime Minister sacks electricity Minister

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has sacked his Electricity Minister Raad Shallal under charges of financial and administrative corruption. "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has issued a decision late Saturday to sack Electricity Minister, Raad Shallal, following reports about his signing of ‘illusionary’ trade contracts in the name of his Ministry, reaching 1 billion and 700 million US dollars," the source told (Aswat al-Iraq) News Agency. They stressed that Maliki had issued another order to carry out an extensive investigation about the said case and sending all those involved in it to the Judiciary. Noteworthy is that Iraq is suffering from an intensive crisis in its electric power, amid rising temperatures, exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, with power cuts reaching 18 hours per day in most Iraqi provinces.