Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki has fired Electricity Minister Raad Shalal over sealing 1.7 billion dollars in deals with phantom Canadian and German companies, parliamentary deputy Alia Naseef said Sunday.
"The prime minister has already fired the minister after examining the contracts concluded by the Electricity Ministry recently with non-existent companies," she told the German Press Agency dpa.
She added that a large number of officials in the ministry were involved in the deals.
Electricity cuts are frequent in Iraq, especially in the summer, forcing many to rely on private generators to get power.
Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated last summer and earlier this year in protest at recurrent power outages.