Swedish police have arrested former Iraqi Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm on suspicion of "fraud involving aid." According to the Swedish public prosecutor, al-Shammari (57) had been wanted in absentia for a year and a half. The arrest took place yesterday, Monday, and al-Shammari served as Iraq's Defense Minister from 2019 to 2020. He was not known in Sweden until he was suddenly appointed as the Iraqi Defense Minister.
Concerns were raised in Iraq at that time regarding his potential dual citizenship in Sweden and Iraq, which al-Shammari denied. It later emerged that al-Shammari, who is named "Najah al-Adli" in Sweden, became a Swedish citizen in 2015 after obtaining residency in 2011. The Swedish authorities began investigating him for "serious fraud" concerning aid, suspecting that he received benefits from Sweden, such as income support, child assistance, and housing, while living in Iraq and receiving a full salary from the Iraqi government, despite informing Swedish authorities that he had been on sick leave for several years.
The investigation against the former defense minister is ongoing, and Swedish authorities were not able to apprehend him until yesterday at Arlanda Airport. During the 1990s, al-Shammari was an officer in the Iraqi army. Swedish authorities previously investigated him for war crimes, but the case was later dropped.
