- The Interior Ministry scrambled to counter claims the police officer promotions system has been corrupted. The Interior Ministry responded saying that the promotions of its members are subject to the supervision of a higher central committee.

The Inspector General of the Interior Ministry Aqil al-Turaihi told AKnews that the Inspector General's Office scrutinizes the work of the Central Committee to prevent any financial or administrative corruption in awarding promotions.

Turaihi assured AKnews of his office's efforts to put an end to corruption and combat all sources of graft.

On Friday the Interior Ministry denied officials were selling promotions and security posts within the departments and institutions.

The Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives warned the Interior Ministry of rising cases of corruption in distributing promotions for partisan interests and selling the security positions. The committee blamed the recent security breaches on persistent graft within the ministry.

Attacks on government officials, politicians and policemen increased in 2012 after a relatively quiet 2011. The use of silenced weapons especially stepped up, even before U.S. troops left the country on Dec. 18.

Iraq has been rocked by a series of bomb attacks mostly targeting the security forces but killing hundreds of civilians as well.

Last Thursday the Iraqi Interior Ministry said it returned more than one billion dinars through its investigations into over the past year. The Corruption Index, issued by International Transparency Organization, ranked Iraq in the ten most corrupt countries in the world.