Chalabi Says Will Return To Iraq In A Few Days To Face "lies"

by Stefan Smith
TEHRAN, Aug 9 (AFP) - Prominent Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi said in Tehran Monday he would return to Baghdad "in a few days" to challenge charges of fraud he said were "outrageous, ridiculous and politically motivated lies".
"I am going back to Iraq in a few days to face these outrageous, ridiculous and politically motivated lies," he told AFP in an interview in his hotel room in the Iranian capital.
"I will not sit idle while these lies are circulated," added the leader of the Iraqi National Congress in response to an arrest warrant issued by an Iraqi judge who accuses the politician of counterfeiting money.
The judge who issued warrants against Chalabi and his nephew Salem -- who has been accused in connection with the murder of an Iraqi finance ministry official -- said the pair will be arrested the moment they set foot in Iraq.
"The people behind this are Baathists, followers of Saddam Hussein who are focussing on me as the one most responsible for bringing in the Americans," said Chalabi, once a darling of Washington but who has fallen out of favour since the US invasion.
"But there are also non-Iraqis involved in this process. The events speak for themselves," added the politician, who appeared relaxed and unruffled by the latest allegations.
Former CIA director George "Tenet and his organisation are after me," Chalabi claimed.
"Tenet is gone but I can tell you this process is continuing. They keep resorting to various tactics. Not the tactics of statesmen, but the tactics of secret agents. This is like a revolutionary court in the time of Saddam."
Chalabi, who was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council before the body was replaced by the new interim government, has been notably accused of being one of the main suppliers of flawed intelligence related to Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction programme.
He has also been critical of the United States' handling of Iraqi affairs in the wake of the invasion, and was recently accused of passing on US intelligence to Iran.
"The situation in Iraq is deplorable," he said, pointing to what he said was a connection between increased US woes and his falling from grace with Washington.
According to the judge in Baghdad, Chalabi was facing felony charges brought by Iraq's central bank following raids on his home in May that turned up "significant sums of counterfeit Iraqi dinars".
Chalabi said this was "absurd".
"There were counterfeit dinars in my office -- maybe one or two dollars' worth. At the time the Governing Council was still functioning and we were introducing the new currency. So we were discussing the problem of counterfeiting and I had in my possession some examples," he asserted.
"The Central Bank is aware of this, because they attended those meetings when I showed the counterfeit currency the Iraqi National Congress had found," he added.
"There was a miniscule amount," he said. "This judge is not qualified to deal with this case, and I will not be deterred by this unqualified judge."
"I have had calls from the highest levels of the Iraqi government urging me to return and stand up to these ridiculous charges."