By Tim Cocks BAGHDAD, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The Iraqi Red Crescent, Iraq's biggest aid agency, is struggling to distribute aid to thousands of war-affected Iraqis because allegations of corruption have shackled its operations, its new president said. In an interview with Reuters late on Wednesday, the Iraqi Red Crescent's newly elected president, Jowan Masum, said delays in funding and donor approvals had stopped aid reaching many Iraqis who urgently need it. The Red Crescent is the only organisation in Iraq with a comprehensive programme providing relief to internal refugees, but it has been dogged by allegations of corrupt practices, prompting a change in management this year. "Rumours of the Red Crescent being infested with corruption mean quite a lot of countries that wanted to donate now are hesitant: should we give, should we not?" Masum said. Figures detailing the impact were not immediately available. Abdul Sattar al-Birqadr, spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, said an Iraqi corruption watchdog had launched an investigation a month ago into the Iraqi Red Crescent and issued a summons for its former chief, Said Hakki. Hakki, an Iraqi-American doctor who returned to lead the Red Crescent after the fall of Saddam Hussein, has left Iraq. In interviews published last week in the Washington Post he denied corruption allegations and said they were politically motivated. At least 200,000 displaced or destitute families benefit each month from the Red Crescent's aid distribution programme, which involves food and non-food items, including blankets, jerrycans and medicines, the agency says. Masum said both the government and foreign donors had held back approval for aid projects, restricting distributions. "There is aid they need to distribute, but they are shackled with: 'you can't do this, you can't do that, (or) because the anti-corruption drive, we can't give you medicines'," she said. Most foreign aid organisations pulled out of Iraq in 2004 and 2005, when security rapidly deteriorated. Many, including the main U.N. agencies, use the Red Crescent to carry out aid work they consider too risky to do themselves. "Although security's better and we can help a little more, we are paralysed by these charges and rumours. For the past three months ... we've been unable to pay salaries," she said. The group works with a budget of tens of millions of dollars and has some 100,000 staff and volunteers. "As far as I'm concerned, whatever happened in the past has happened and let the legal process take over," Masum said. "If somebody is corrupt, take them to trial, but don't stop the aid getting to those who need it." Masum said she had outlined a plan to tackle corruption in the Red Crescent, including a more transparent auditing system and oversight of all spending plans by all nine board members. (Additional reporting by Wisam Mohammed and Ahmed Rasheed)
Demonstrators display anti-U.S. military placards during a protest in Kufa, 120 km (75 miles) south of Baghdad September 26, 2008. Placards read, "Iraq will not become a U.S. colony". REUTERS/Ali Abu ...
