BAGHDAD — Officials from Iraq’s Interior Ministry pledged Sunday to fight corruption and graft within the ministry, while at the same time laying much of the responsibility for the illegal behavior of some officials on the country’s citizens.

Adnon Al-Assadi, the senior deputy minister of administration and finance, cited an incident in which 1,000 people paid $150 bribes in exchange for ministry jobs that were handed out in the form of orders with forged signatures.

He said those paying the bribes were as much at fault as those asking for them.

"The citizen is the one who is encouraging these individuals to take money from him," said Al-Assadi. He added that the situation could be corrected "once he stops giving bribes and (starts) reporting these incidents."

He encouraged citizens to report abuses by officials and said more than 20,000 ministry officials had been dismissed over the last two years for "bad behavior."

Al-Assadi made the comments Sunday during a press conference outlining the progress the ministry has made over the last year.

Brig. Gen. Michael Milano, deputy commanding general of the Directorate of Interior Affairs, who also cited a need for continued efforts against government corruption, said ministry has made "significant" progress since January including the establishment of five regional courts, graduation of more than 400 police from criminal investigation courses and graduation of almost 1,600 ministry personnel from human rights and ethics courses.

"While I’ve noted many successes of the Ministry of the Interior, much work remains to be done," Milano said.

He said the ministry, which is responsible for the country’s local and national police forces, still needs to absorb the country’s other police forces, including the oil and electricity police.

Al-Assadi said a lot of progress has been made equipping police forces. He said every policeman now carries their own weapon, whereas in the past, a rifle or handgun was rotated among three people. He also said the ministry now has more than 40,000 vehicles.

Maj. Gen. Ayden Khalid, deputy minister for Iraqi police service affairs and security, said more than 54,000 police will be on hand to secure the country’s upcoming elections in mid-December.

Khalid said efforts were being made to increase the amount of trust Iraqi citizens have for their local police, and also encouraged them to report misbehavior. He said he would like to "make a citizen a person capable of appearing at the police station and providing intelligence."