Iraq Politician Chalabi Returns To Baghdad, Says Aide

BAGHDAD, Aug 11 (AFP) - Prominent Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi returned on Wednesday to Baghdad, where he has been threatened with arrest on money counterfeiting charges, said a senior aide in his party.
"He is back home among his folks," Mithal al-Alusi told AFP. "He will shower, have some tea and then resume his national duties."
A judge said on Monday that Chalabi would be arrested upon arrival in Iraq to face the charges against him.
Alusi also said Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress (INC) party had vacated one of the two buildings that make up its Baghdad headquarters, but would not relinquish the other, as demanded under a government eviction order.
INC officials abandoned a building which belonged to the former Iraqi secret service, but refused to leave the adjacent, so-called Chinese House, where Chalabi also lives.
"This villa is a symbol of democracy," said Alusi, adamant that the party would not budge, after the two orders, dated June 30 and August 7, were delivered by a US soldier on Tuesday.