ugnet_: A WARRANT ISSUED ON AHMED CHALABI

[Edward Mulindwa]

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story applies the premise that 'Iraq' is seeking the arrest. In the sense that most Iraqis might agree that Chalabi has committed crimes against Iraq, that might well be true. However, this action is being taken by a U.S.-appointed, U.S.-militarily-backed interim-at-best governmental entity. Chalabi, for the record, was heavily backed by the Bush administration. He also had access to all top Bush administration officials. In addition, Chalabi is accused of spying for Iran as he held court in the Pentagon. The nephew, Salem Chalabi was going to be in charge of trying Saddam Hussein in an 'Iraqi' court of law. We strongly urge our readers to read between the lines on this one. -- ma. Also see below:      Chalabi from Iran: 'Charges Politically Motivated'    �     Go to Original     Iraq Issues Arrest Warrants for Chalabi, Nephew     By Jamie Tarabay     The Associated Press     Sunday 08 August 2004     Baghdad - Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for Ahmad Chalabi, a former governing council member, on counterfeiting charges and another for Salem Chalabi, the head of Iraq's special tribunal, on murder charges, Iraq's chief investigating judge said Sunday.     The warrant was a new sign of the fall of Ahmad Chalabi from the centers of power. Chalabi, a longtime exile opposition leader, had been a favorite of many in the Pentagon but fell out with the Americans in the weeks before the U.S. occgupation ended in June.     His nephew, Salem Chalabi, heads the tribunal that is due to try Saddam on war crimes charges.     "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," said Judge Zuhair al-Maliky.     The warrants, issued Saturday, accused Ahmad Chalabi of counterfeiting old Iraqi dinars - which had been removed from circulation following the fall of Saddam's regime last year, he said.     Ahmad Chalabi appeared to have been hiding the counterfeit money amid other old money and changing it into new dinars in the street, he said.     Police found the counterfeit money along with old dinars in Ahmad Chalabi's house during a May raid, he said.     Salem Chalabi was named as a suspect in the June killing of the Haithem Fadhil, director general of the finance ministry.     Both men were reportedly out of the country Sunday.     Haidar al-Moussawi, Ahmad Chalabi's spokesman, said members of his Iraqi National Congress had heard of the arrest warrants only through the media.     "Such a warrant has been issued, but no one called any of the accused or gave them a chance before issuing the arrest warrant," he said.     "These are very bad indications about the state of justice and law in the new Iraq," he said.     If convicted, Salem Chalabi could face the death penalty, which was restored on Sunday, al-Maliky said. Any sentence for Ahmad Chalabi would be determined by the trial judges, he said.     Ahmad Chalabi was a senior member of the Governing Council, which ran Iraq from the fall of Saddam until the end of the U.S. occupation. But he fell out with the Americans, and allegations surfaced that he supplied Iranians with classified U.S. intelligence on American monitoring of Iranian communications.     Go to Original     Iraq Issues Warrants for Chalabis     By BBC News     Sunday 08 August 2004     An Iraqi judge says he has issued two arrest warrants for former Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi and his nephew, Salem.     Ahmed Chalabi is wanted in connection with financial charges, Judge Zuhair al-Maliki said.     He said Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein, is sought on suspicion of murder.     Both men, who are out of the country, denied the charges and said they were politically motivated.     Ahmed Chalabi was once the Pentagon's favoured candidate to lead Iraq, but he fell from favour amid allegations of links to Iranian hardliners and concerns that he provided faulty intelligence in the run-up to the war.     He said he had not been informed directly, but had heard of the warrants through the media.     "I'm now mobilised on all fronts to rebuff all these charges," he told CNN from the Iranian capital, Tehran.     Judge Maliki told Radio Sawa the warrant was issued against Ahmed Chalabi in connection with counterfeiting money.     "He is the prime suspect," he said.     "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," he added.     Fall from grace     Analysts say the warrant is a new sign of Ahmed Chalabi's fall from the centre of power.     After decades in exile, Mr Chalabi was one of the first Iraqis to be flown by the Pentagon to Iraq during the 2003 invasion, supposedly to allow him to consolidate his political base in the country.     But the relationship soured during the occupation and jockeying for power that followed the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein.     In May, US troops and Iraqi police raided Mr Chalabi's home and the headquarters of his party, the Iraqi National Congress, in Baghdad.     American officials announced then that the monthly payment of more than $300,000 to the Iraqi National Congress was to be stopped.  The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"             Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"