- Salem Chalabi, the man organising the trial of Saddam
Hussein, was facing a murder charge himself last night after an Iraqi judge
issued a warrant for his arrest.
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- Another was issued for his uncle Ahmed Chalabi, the founder
of the Iraqi National Congress and a former key ally of the US. He is accused
of money laundering.
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- Both men denied the accusations, which they said were
politically motivated.
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- Salem Chalabi, head of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, was
named as a suspect for the murder in June of Haithem Fadhil, director general
of the finance ministry.
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- Last night he said the allegations were designed to interfere
with preparations for the trial of senior officials of the former regime.
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- If convicted he could face the death penalty, which was
restored by the Iraqi interim government yesterday.
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- It was unclear last night what impact the warrant would
have on the trials of Saddam and other officials of his former regime.
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- Salem Chalabi, who is in London, said in February he
thought it could be two years before Saddam appeared in court.
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- The US has handed Saddam over to the Iraqis for trial.
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- "The warrant for me has to do with the fact that
apparently I threatened somebody. I have no recollection of ever meeting
that person, but apparently I threatened somebody who subsequently was
killed," he told CNN.
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- "I don't think that I had anything to do with the
charges so I'm not actually worried about it. It's a ridiculous charge,
that I threatened somebody. There's no proof there."
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- Iraq's senior investigative judge, Zuhair al-Maliky,
said that nobody in Iraq should enjoy immunity. "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."
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- Ahmed Chalabi is accused of counterfeiting Iraqi dinars
removed from circulation after Saddam's regime fell. The fake money was
allegedly found in his house.
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- His spokesman, Haidar al-Moussawi, said: "Such a
warrant has been issued, but no one called any of the accused or gave them
a chance before issuing the arrest warrant. These are very bad indications
about the state of justice and law in the new Iraq."
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- Both men said they would return to Iraq to face the charges.
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- Ahmed Chalabi, attending a conference in Tehran, called
the allegations "outrageous" and "manufactured lies".
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- He told CNN: "I'm now mobilised on all fronts to
rebuff all these charges. Nobody's above the law and I submit to the law
in Iraq, despite my serious and grave reservations about this court. I
have been fighting Saddam for many years and we survived that and we are
certainly not going to be intimidated by this judge."
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- Last night Salem Chalabi described the charge against
his uncle as "weird".
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- "It has to do with counterfeit money and I was told
that when they raided his house a couple of months ago they found the equivalent
of a few dollars in counterfeit dollars that he was given as head of the
financial committee of the governing council," he said.
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- The accusation against Ahmad Chalabi is a severe embarrassment
to the US, which once considered him prime candidate to replace Saddam.
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- Washington has attempted to distance itself from him
since it was suggested that he provided faulty intelligence about Iraq's
WMD capacity.
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- He did not get a job in the interim government.
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- Mr Chalabi was recently accused of informing Iran that
the US had broken its secret intelligence codes. He said the allegation
was "stupid".
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- He is wanted in Jordan, where he was sentenced in his
absence in 1991 to 22 years for fraud. He denied the charge.
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- Since being marginalised by the US, Ahmad Chalabi has
refashioned himself as a Shiite populist.
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- Salem Chalabi was born in Baghdad and studied at the
American universities Yale, Columbia and Northwestern, where he earned
degrees in law and international affairs.
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- He 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 before taking on the role as organiser
of Saddam's trial.
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1279076,00.html
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