Iraq Central Bank Denies Seeking Chalabi Prosecution For Banknote Forgery Agence France Press August 9, 2004
BAGHDAD, Aug 9 (AFP) - The governor of Iraq's central bank Monday denied that it had sought the prosecution of prominent politician Ahmed Chalabi for banknote forgery after a court issued a warrant for his arrest on the charge. "The central bank has not lodged a complaint against any individual regarding money counterfeiting and never requested that such charges be brought," Sinan al-Shabibi told AFP. "I have sent a letter about this to the government and they should handle the matter from here." An official of Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress said the counterfeit money in question amounted to 3,000 dinars (two dollars) and that the banknotes were stamped in red "counterfeit" and that they were in Chalabi's possession as part of his previous duties as head of the Governing Council's finance committee. "If the judge truly had respect for his job, he would have informed us about the charges in question before making them public through the media," Mithal al-Alussi told reporters. Earlier, judge Zuhair al-Maliky told AFP, that Chalabi, who is currently in Tehran, would be arrested upon arrival in Iraq to answer felony charges brought by the central bank for money counterfeiting. He said "significant sums of counterfeit Iraqi dinars", were found in Ahmed Chalabi's Baghdad home during a raid in May by the US military. Chalabi vowed to return to Iraq in a few days to uncover "the lies".
