http://newsfromrussia.com/accidents/2005/01/23/57938.html
Pravda.RU:Accidents:More in detail Ahmed Chalabi is going to be arrested 05:31 2005-01-23 Top Iraqi officials disputed reports that former Iraqi exile leader Ahmed Chalabi would be arrested, a day after the interim defense minister said an apprehension was to happen soon. Some Iraqi officials described Defense Minister Hazem Sha'alan's comment on Friday as "electioneering" before the critical January 30 vote, in which both he and Chalabi are contenders for the 275-member transitional national assembly. Sha'alan told the the Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera that Chalabi would be handed over Sunday to Interpol, the international police agency, to face bank-fraud charges in Jordan. The Iraqi Defense Ministry does not have the jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants, Iraqi officials told CNN. The Justice Ministry issues warrants and sends them to the Interior Ministry to be carried out, reports CNN. According to ABC News, insurgents said they had executed 15 kidnapped Iraqi National Guardsmen for cooperating with U.S. forces, while the Iraqi government on Saturday insisted its security measures would be sufficient to protect crucial elections amid an escalation of violence. The interior minister announced new security measures, saying Baghdad's international airport would be closed Jan. 29 and 30, the day of the election, and that many parts of the country would be under a nighttime curfew for three days around the time of the balloting. "There are dangers and there are threats to throw the elections process into chaos, but we hope that our security plan will be up to the standards. We don't rule out an escalation from the terrorist forces," the minister, Falah al-Naqib, told reporters. Organizers extended the registration for overseas absentee voting in Iraq's national election by two days to Tuesday because the turnout so far in the weeklong campaign to allow Iraqis abroad to vote has been far below expectations, the International Organization for Migration said Saturday. ++++ http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6690 Ahmed Chalabi to be handed to the Interpol1/22/2005 7:20:00 AM GMT Chalabi fell out of favor with his U.S. backers for allegedly leaking intelligence to Iran Iraq's defense minister Hazem al-Shaalan said on Friday that the Iraqi interim government would arrest Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader, and former ally to the United States, Ahmed Chalabi right after the Muslims Feast, for seeking to harm his and his ministry's reputation. However the interim defense minister didn't mention how exactly had Chalabi tried to defame him or his ministry, but a spokesman INC rejected the minister's remarks. Mr. Shaalan made his remarks while speaking to the Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera, although his government has banned the channel from reporting in Iraq last August. Chalabi "did not accuse anyone of anything. He (just) said that hundreds of millions of dollars have been moved by plane (and presumably flown out of Iraq) and asked the Iraqi state to investigate," Haidar al-Musawi told the news channel. Al Jazeera quoted the Iraqi defense minister as saying that Chalabi will be arrested and handed to Interpol over his conviction in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1992 of embezzling millions from Petra Bank, which collapsed in 1989. Although Chalabi is the founder of the bank and ran for quite a long period, he denies the accusations. "We will arrest him and hand him over to Interpol. We will arrest him based on facts that he wanted to malign the reputation of the defense ministry and defense minister," Mr. Shaalan was quoted as saying. "Our measures (to arrest him) will be after the Eid," he said, referring to the current Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, 'Feast of Sacrifice', which began on Jan. 20 and ends on Sunday in most Arab states. Chalabi, cousin of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, couldn't be immediately reached for comment. In remarks published Friday by the London-based newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat, Mr. Shaalan said that Ahmed Chalabi, a leading figure of the opposition to Saddam before the U.S. invasion, accused the defense minister in an interview of stealing $500 million from the ministry and posted documents on an internet site; accusing him of having links to the toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. Chalabi was known for his friendship to Washington but after the U.S. occupation and after ousting Saddam Hussein, he turned into a vocal critic of U.S. policy in Iraq. Last year, a U.S.-appointed judge issued a warrant for Chalabi's arrest on charges of counterfeiting money, but those charges were dropped in September due to lack of evidence. In his Iraqi National Congress, Chalabi brought together all foes of the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, part of his efforts, lead by the U.S.-appointed Governing Council to remove members of the Baath party from positions of power. Chalabi fell out of favor with his U.S. backers for allegedly leaking intelligence to Iran. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? 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