The Supreme Federal Court in Iraq suspended the presidential drive by Kurdish politician Hoshyar Zebari "over charges linked to financial and administrative corruption," officials said on Sunday.

Zebari had served as Iraq's finance minister but was removed from his position in 2016 over allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds.

Court decides on 'temporary' suspension

Zebari is the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) nominee for the presidency, competing against 24 candidates who are also vying for the largely ceremonial position. The former minister was considered a frontrunner along with incumbent Barham Salih.

Last week four MPs petitioned the federal court demanding Zebari be barred from participating in the presidential race.

The allegations against him relate to a sum of $1.8 million (€1.57 million) that was allegedly used to pay for airline tickets for his security detail. Zebari has strongly denied the allegations and says they are politically motivated.

The move came a day before the country's parliament was scheduled to elect a new head of state.

In the court's ruling, it said it had "decided to temporarily suspend the procedures of electing (Zebari) for the position of President of the Republic until the case is resolved."

It is not clear whether Monday's vote in parliament will be delayed as a result of the court's decision.

Violence on the rise in Iraq

The new president would be expected to ask the largest parliamentary bloc to form a new government. Currently, the dominant faction in the assembly is linked with populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose party claimed 73 seats in the 329-seat house following the parliamentary vote in October.

The polls were marked by low-voter turnout, owing largely to anti-government activists staging an election boycott. The results were then challenged in court, with the Supreme Court ratifying them in late December. The country has also been shaken by a recent spike in political violence, with attacks on the offices of Sunni Muslim and Iraqi Kurdish political party offices in Baghdad, among others.

In November, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt when an exploding drone targeted his house.

kb/dj (AFP, Reuters)