Iraqi Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudani has replaced the heads of the country's grain board and the foodstuff trading company which imports wheat, rice and sugar a year, sources at the Trade Ministry said on Wednesday.
They said the reshuffle came after the Integrity Commission, Iraq's top anti-corruption body, issued arrest warrants against the two and seven other senior ministry officials.
Among the changes, Muthanna Jabbar, director-general of the Grain Board of Iraq, has been replaced by Raad al-Asadi, who was head of foreign trade relations at the ministry, the sources said.
In addition, Qais Mohammed Nasib, director-general of the Foodstuff Trading Co, has been replaced by Raad Faris al-Maas, who was head of the construction materials trading company.
The sources said that among the officials who had arrest warrants issued against them are Sudani's two brothers and his spokesman Mohammed Hannon.
Head of the Integrity Commission Rahim al-Ugaili reached by news agency Dow Jones through telephone in Baghdad declined to comment.
The Trade Ministry controls some of the most visible commodities in Iraq, operates the annual $6-billion program to provide monthly ration baskets for all Iraqis and supervises the importation of new cars. It also oversees the importing of grain, seeds and construction materials.
Sudani and a number of his senior aides have been accused of corruption by the head of the parliament's integrity committee, Sabah al-Saeedi. He has repeatedly called for Sudani's resignation.
Some sources close to the ministry said the actions were just window dressing intended to shield higher-ups from scrutiny.
Ministry officials complain that their departments have been unfairly singled out in a government notorious for corruption.
"I wonder why there is much focus on corruption at the Trade Ministry, when there are so many other places which suffer from severe corruption," an official said.
Problems with the ration basket have drawn widespread criticism from Iraqis, for whom the program was one of the few visible connections to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
The basket consists of flour, rice, tea, sugar, salt, dried milk for adults and children, cooking oil, lentils, chickpeas, and soap.