In the Middle East, bad guys get safe-haven if they’re willing to pay enough. Idi Amin spent his retirement in Saudi Arabia, Achille Lauro hijacker Abu Abbas in Baghdad, and Saddam’s daughter is safe-and-sound in Amman (after paying $25 million to associates of the King, according to both Iraqi and Jordanians). The latest news in Iraqi circles is that Hazen al-Shalaan, wanted in Iraq for embezzling $500 million when he was the U.S.-appointed Defense Minister, has found refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, where he is under protection in Kurdish president Masud Barzani’s compound in Salahuddin mountain. Say it ain’t so, Masud. The money should be returned to the Iraqi defense ministry, not paid as protection.

If Iraqi Kurdistan is a democracy, it is time it started abiding by the rule-of-law. Ironically, last year, I wrote an essay for a Lebanese newspaper about corruption in which I cited an example from Iraqi Kurdistan. Several protests and even a death threat or two were sent to me in response, especially after an Iraqi Kurdish paper translated it and printed it in Kurdish. I was warned not to return to the north of Iraq; I did anyway earlier this summer and found the anti-corruption grumbling getting worse.

Another target of Iraq’s much ballyhooed corruption investigation has been former Electricity Minister Ayham al-Samarraie, another U.S. appointee. His arrest in Baghdad was big news. What wasn’t is that, according to the Iraqi community, he was released after a significant posting of “bail.” Of course, it’s a lot easier reporting a press release than following up on it.