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US forces in Iraq on Monday arrested the US-appointed interim governor of the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on charges of kidnapping and financial crimes, a coalition official said in Baghdad.
Abu Haidar Abdul Munim, who had been appointed by a US military commander to run Najaf, was removed from office and arrested Monday afternoon in the holy Shi'ite city, a spokesman for the US-led administration said.
Munim will be tried in an Iraqi court under Iraqi law while Haidar Mahdi Mattar al-Mayali, the current deputy governor, will take over the interim governor's duties, the spokesman told a press conference.
Another 61 people in Munim's entourage, including his bodyguards, were also detained and will be investigated over the same charges, he said.
Charges against Munim include kidnapping and holding hostages; pressuring government employees to perform financial crimes; attacking a bank official and stealing funds.
"These charges on which he has been arrested are charges that have been investigated over the last couple of weeks by the local Iraqi investigative judge and the special prosecutor," the coalition official said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2003)
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