An Iraqi court sentenced a former regional governor to 14 years in jail for crimes, the country'sUS-led occupying authorities said today.
US forces had appointed Abdul Munim to run the regionincluding the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf after the war thatousted Saddam Hussein, but they arrested him in June onsuspicion of kidnapping, holding hostages and financial crimes.
The court heard evidence that Munim illegally detained threechildren of his rival, tore up an official document prohibiting him from withdrawing money from government accounts and kept money belonging to a man who had been released from detention, Iraq's US-led administration said in a statement.
Iraq's central criminal court convicted Munim, a former armycolonel, on Monday after a three-day trial. He was found guilty of illegal arrest, destruction of a government document and misuse of office, the statement said.