Former Iraqi minister escapes prison in Baghdad

Iraq's former electricity minister, a dual US-Iraqi citizen, has escaped from police custody, an Iraqi official said Monday. Ayham al-Samaraie escaped Sunday with help from members of a security company he had hired to protect him before his arrest, said Faris Kareem, deputy head of Iraq's Public Integrity Commission. The anti-corruption panel had brought charges against him. Al-Samaraie was convicted in October of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison.