Health in the Kurdistan Region: arrest warrant for a former Sulaymaniyah health director general over contractors' cheques (2021) and arrest of the Zakho hospitals' catering contractor (2025)

On 29 July 2021 the investigating judge of the integrity court in Sulaymaniyah ordered the arrest of Miran Muhammad Abbas, former director general of health in Sulaymaniyah, under Article 15 of the Region's integrity law. A statement of the Integrity Commission in Sulaymaniyah said he was accused in several corruption files, including the laundering of cheques and the payment of invalid cheques to contractors, which it described as abuse of office for unlawful gain. On 8 April 2025 the Integrity and Investigation Directorate said it had arrested the contractor who supplied meals to the hospitals of Zakho district, in Duhok governorate, after many complaints from patients and their families about poor food. It said its teams had found in several hospitals that his company had committed serious violations and manipulation in coordination with some employees of the Zakho health directorate. The director general of health in Zakho confirmed the arrest, and a judicial source said the case was before the Zakho court. No ruling in either case is on record as of 19 October 2026.