Head of Iraq's SWAT force arrested for graft

The commander of Iraq's rapid response force was arrested after a set-up in which he was filmed taking a $50,000 bribe from a contractor, a member of Iraq's integrity panel said on Saturday.

Brigadier General Numan Dakhil was caught taking the bribe near Baghdad International airport on Thursday but escaped anti-corruption watchdog investigators after his guards beat them, Sabah al-Saedi, a member of the Integrity Committee, said.

Dakhil was later arrested on Friday.

"Eight of the Integrity Commission investigators seized him while he was receiving a sum from the contractor. The incident has been recorded with legal evidence," Saedi said.

"Brigadier General Numan Dakhil was arrested yesterday, he is under investigation now."

Corruption has been a major problem for Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion and the country is ranked as one of the world's most corrupt nations in Transparency International's annual corruption perceptions index.