Chalabi comes full circle: Iraq judge issues warrant for his arrest

[Duddha]

I think we can put our fears of a Chalabi Iraq behind us.
link

Iraq judge issues warrant to arrest Chalabi


Monday 09 August 2004, 0:21 Makka Time, 21:21 GMT


After a 45 year absence, Chalabi may still see an Iraqi jail

Ahmad Chalabi – the Pentagon's number one ally before Iraq's invasion – has continued his fall from grace in dramatic style after Baghdad issued a warrant for his arrest.

But the Iraqi politician, who fled Iraq in 1958 to return in 2003 as a potential national leader, has vowed to fight the charges on Sunday – characterising them as "outrageous".

Specific accusations made by Judge Zuhair al-Maliki include counterfeiting and financial irregularities.

His nephew, Salim Chalabi – head of the Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam Hussein – is also to be arrested over the murder of the director general of the finance ministry, Haitham Fadil.

"They should be arrested and then questioned and then we will evaluate the evidence, and then if there is enough evidence, they will be sent to trial," al-Maliki said.

Death sentence?

If convicted, Salim Chalabi, 41, could face the death penalty - which was restored by Iraqi officials on Sunday, the judge added.

Any sentence for Ahmad Chalabi would be determined by the trial judges.

Both men, who were out of the country on Sunday, denied the charges and said they were politically motivated.

Salim Chalabi called the accusations "ridiculous," while Ahmad Chalabi said the charges were "outrageous," and "manufactured lies."

Speaking from Tehran to a US broadcaster, Ahmad said: "There is no case here and I will go to meet those charges head-on … I have been fighting Saddam for many years and we survived that."

Chalabi left Iraq in 1958 to return in 2003 as a prime candidate for the interim presidency.

His nephew, Salim has served as a legal adviser to the interim Iraqi Governing Council and was a member of the 10-member committee framing the basic transitional law for the new interim government.

End of Chalabi?

Iraqi police and US troops had already raided Ahmad Chalabi's Baghdad offices in May.

Washington also cut off its $340,000 a month funding to his Iraqi National Congress party.

But it still may be too soon to write off his political career.

He had already been convicted in absentia for a multi-million dollar bank fraud in Jordan but still managed to obtain favour at the Pentagon and a leading role in Iraq's interim government.

However, in recent months, Chalabi has repeatedly criticised US policy in Iraq, insisting Washington hand Iraq control of its own oil revenue and condemning the transfer of power in June as meaningless.

 

[The Last Conformist]

He seems like a survivor. I'd not count him out just yet.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

I think we can put our fears of a Chalabi Iraq behind us.

Dont be too sure. He still has alot of American taxpayer money, enough to make a whole lot of trouble. Instead of arresting him, they should have had him gunned down in the street, and made it look like an attack by insurgents.

 

[Zwelgje]

The US government has an interesting choice of allies in Iraq.
Perhaps they should check up on somebody more thoroughly before supporting him/her, not everybody who vocally supports you is a true ally...

 

[SeleucusNicator]

Instead of arresting him, they should have had him gunned down in the street, and made it look like an attack by insurgents.

Amen. Chalabi needs to go.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Apparently theyre both travelling broad. If they issued the warrants now its probably because theyd prefer the Chalabis dont come back.

 

[Benderino]

Ahmad Chalabi has just been charged with counterfeiting and sentenced to trial in Iraq. This is extremely strange for many reasons:

1) Chalabi was on the US's payroll. We were giving him $300,000 a month as a stipend. Why would he need to counterfeit?

2) A relation of his named Salem Chalabi is also receiving charges. He is a lawyer investigating Saddam and his nogoodniks, accused of participating in the murder of Haithem Fadhil, the director general of Iraq's Finance Ministry.

3) Ahmad was a friend to the US during Saddam's reign, and was supposed to be the first leader of Iraq, post liberation. For some reason (supposedly because he gave secret documents to Iran...for unexplainable reasons) the US broke off ties and raided his home.

4) Both Chalabis are currently in Iran.

I don't know what all this information means, but none of it adds up. Can someone put the pieces of this puzzle together for me, or am I on to something?

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

I think you're on to something and I think it has to do with Iran.

They have always since the first days of Khomeni wanted to get rid of Iraq's baathist party and replace it with their own brand of fundamentalism. Now that the baathists are gone I think they're making their move and Chalabi was perhaps a double agent?

 

[Azadre]

Iran is waiting to strike.

 

[Little Raven]

Iran is waiting to strike.

Iran already has struck. They just got someone else to do the striking.

Iran's biggest enemy, the secular regime of Iraq, is completly crushed, and all it cost them were a few disposable agents. (see Chalabi) Now, Iran can concentrate on completing a nuclear weapon or two while the Americans bleed trying the control the chaos they've unleashed.

 

[jack merchant]

2) A relation of his named Salem Chalabi is also receiving charges. He is a lawyer investigating Saddam and his nogoodniks, accused of participating in the murder of Haithem Fadhil, the director general of Iraq's Finance Ministry.

3) Ahmad was a friend to the US during Saddam's reign, and was supposed to be the first leader of Iraq, post liberation. For some reason (supposedly because he gave secret documents to Iran...for unexplainable reasons) the US broke off ties and raided his home.

4) Both Chalabis are currently in Iran.

I don't know what all this information means, but none of it adds up. Can someone put the pieces of this puzzle together for me, or am I on to something?

ad 1) Why settle for 300k when there's millions to be made ? It's not like Chalabi's an alien to fraud . Plus I suspect the stipend simply wasn't enough to build a political presence throughout Iraq - and with the country quite capable of erupting in civil war, I doubt the INC tried to prepare politically alone.

ad 2) You might also ask why a Chalabi relative in particular got the job of investigating the Baathists (here's a good take on it), and why Chalabi's INC was given sole access to Saddam's secret files by the CPA. That's a pretty powerful tool to manipulate people with.

ad 3) Some friend... manufacturing false intelligence and fake defectors to convince the US that there really were WMD's. Regardless of how you view the war, the way Chalabi helped manipulate the US into it is very disturbing indeed. What's more, the US is now so occupied in Iraq that it is quite unable to exert any real pressure on Iran wrt its nuclear program - quite the coup if you're an Ayatollah.

ad 4) Convenient timing to announce the warrant, I think.

I agree that the charges are most likely connected to the internal politics of Iraq, but I don't doubt at all that they may equallly be valid. A more important question really is how Chalabi became the officially anointed [supposed] US ally in the country in the first place.

 

[Azadre]

If I were Iran, I would make sure a group of insurgents get an Iranian hostage. Then, I would use it as an excuse to invade then annex southern Iran.

 

[Little Raven]

If I were Iran, I would make sure a group of insurgents get an Iranian hostage. Then, I would use it as an excuse to invade then annex southern Iran.

Iran is much smarter than that. Invading Iraq now, while the US is still there, would be inviting disaster, and is so very unnecessary. When your enemy is making a terrible mistake, the last thing you want to do is stop him.

Iran is in a VERY good position right now. The US is desperate to keep the boat from being rocked, so as long as Iran stay reasonably silent, they can develop their nuclear program without much fear of reprisal. If they can get the nuke before the US manages to extradite itself, they've catapulted themselves into a very small group of nations. Iran may indeed have designs on southern Iraq, but it can wait. For now, it's better to allow the Americans to bleed themselves dry trying to control it than to court destruction by trying to wrest it away outright. When the US finally leaves...then Iran will make her next move.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Chalabi is hiding in Iran of all places at the moment.