BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court closed a corruption case brought against Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri by Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi, citing lack of evidence, a judiciary spokesman said Tuesday.

In parliament last week, Obeidi accused Jabouri and five other MPs of lobbying for businesses seeking contracts to sell overpriced planes, vehicles and other goods to the armed forces. He said they sought to influence ministry appointments and some tried to blackmail him. All six denied the accusations.

The spokesman, Judge Abdel-Sattar al-Bayraqdar, told state television: “The evidence is lacking.” The court didn’t mention the others who were accused by Obeidi.

A travel ban imposed on Jabouri because of the accusations was lifted Tuesday, the speaker’s spokesman Imad al-Khafaji said.

Obeidi made the accusations while appearing before parliament on Aug. 1 to respond to separate corruption allegations at his ministry. He called his summons to address MPs a “conspiracy by the corrupt.”

He said that one lawmaker tried to push him to sign several deals with specific companies, including a $1 billion catering contract, a $2.8 billion deal for armored vehicles and a $421 million deal for Humvees.

The ruling came hours after a parliament vote to strip Jabouri of immunity, paving the way for an investigation, according to Shiite lawmaker, Ahmed al-Badri.

Jabouri asked for the vote so that he could defend himself against the charges. The same measure was approved for two other Sunni lawmakers, Badri added.

The Defense Ministry has been accused by lawmakers of wasting billions of dollars in public funds and weakening the armed forces to the point where they collapsed in 2014 in the face of the threat from Daesh (ISIS) militants, under the previous government, led by Nouri al-Maliki, who was also acting defense minister.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who succeeded Maliki in 2014, has made the fight against corruption a priority but his efforts have been met with resistance and caused major disruption to Iraqi politics, which led to public anger against the political elite. The corruption accusations have also deepened divisions inside the biggest Sunni parliamentary bloc. Iraq ranks 161 out of 168 on Transparency International’s Corruption Index.

The government has faced growing anti-government protests demanding reforms. Earlier this year, protesters stormed Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone twice in the space of a month.