Iraq releases Saddam-era trade minister

Iraqi authorities released on Sunday, Mohammad Mahdi al-Saleh the former trade minister for the former dictator Saddam Hussain, arrested by US forces nearly nine years ago. According to Iraqi deputy justice minister Busho Ebrahim in a statement to AFP, Iraqi authorities released al-Saleh because "there were no charges left against him." Ebrahim said al-Saleh had been found innocent of charges against him last year, but offered no explanation as to why it took several months for him to be released. He did not give details as to what charges had been leveled against al-Saleh. "Iraqi authorities released ex-trade minister Mohammad Mahdi Al Saleh today," Badie Aref, lawyer for multiple Saddam-era officials, told AFP. "He has already left Iraq," Aref said, but declined to specify where he had gone. Al-Saleh was number 35 on the US forces' most wanted list in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.