Police surround Chalabi's office

[salin]

Police surround Chalabi's office
Last Update: Sunday, May 30, 2004. 10:34pm (AEST)

Police in the central Iraqi town of Ramadi have surrounded the local office of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress and ordered it to be evacuated.

... very short article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1119198.htm

[maddezmom]

1. here's another link from this am....EVACUATED???

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi police on Sunday demanded that staffers of Ahmad Chalabi's political movement evacuate their building in a city west of Baghdad, but officials said they were trying to sort out the situation with the authorities.


Police arrived at the Ramadi offices of his Iraqi National Congress movement and ordered everyone to leave the building, according to INC official Haider al-Musawi. He said the evacuation order came from the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior.


"We are trying to solve this problem peacefully and legally without causing any problems," Haider said by telephone.


It was unclear why the evacuation order had been issued.

~snip~
more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=3&u=/ap...

[salin]

3. couldn't get that link to work - but here is an AP item

carried by the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4148836,00.html

[maddezmom]

4. thanks... the Chalibi saga continues

[salin]

5. and due to news overload...

few seem to be attention that this drama continues to unfold.

[the Kelly Gang]

2. methinks Chalabai should evacuate from Iraq. I reckon he's a marked

man.

[Beetwasher]

6. This Is Probably Related to The Showdown Over the PM

Things are really going to hell and quick. We should all be very afraid...

[salin]

7. Yesterday I read that he was proudly declaring that

HE had approved all of the names put forth (thus far) and that the only unnamed positions were minor/symbolic. He was clearly taking on the role of "legitimate spokesperson" for the IGC (and by extension Iraq?) - maybe this is in reaction to that?

There are reports on DU that Chalabi is a cousin of the newly named PM - but I haven't been able to find a reference to that anywhere.

SO much murk in this (entire) story - there has to be something big behind it.

[Beetwasher]

10. It Seems That It Could Be Orchestrated

by the IGC to embarrass the US...Now the US is openly at odds w/ the their own hand picked governing council, the only body representing the people of Iraq at this time, hand picked by the US as it is...I think the fools were played yet again...

One massive, gargantuan diplomatic failure after another after another after another....

[maddezmom]

11. the flips and flops since last night

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x591181

[natrat]

15. bushco coordinated this w/ the council to

make it appear that they are standing up to the US maybe

[Beetwasher]

16. It's TOO Embarrassing

For them...It would be too big a gamble...They don't care what the Iraqi's think, they only care about domestic consumption and the political fall out at home. They've been played yet again.

They just launched the Chimp on a once a week speaking series on Iraq. How's he gonna explain this? Nope, the admin. ain't behind it, they done been played and chumped AGAIN!

[maddezmom]

17. nah, the council is sick of bushco and bremer's crap

now, they are grabbing the headlines and toying with the misadministration. :)

[Spazito]

8. The bush admin must be feeling very panicked at the thought...

that Saddam's records, held by Chalabi, will get out to the public. I have no doubt there is a lot in there about the US's previous relationship with Saddam that bush et al DO NOT want to come out. I see this "evacuation" as part of the search for the documents rather than the Chalabi story itself.

[salin]

9. That makes perfect sense

I think I may be following the whole story so closely that I was only seeing the trees.

But the delay - wouldn't that have given Chalabi et al a whole lot of time to do some hiding away (for ammo) of papers?

[Spazito]

13. The initial surprise raid was to get the papers, the incompetency of...

the bush cabal is glaringly clear. For them to think that Chalabi, their previous darling, would have kept the papers anywhere near him shows how out of touch with reality they are. Chalabi will use these powerful bargaining chips against the bush cabal and it will be very interesting to see where it goes. The reason Chalabi wasn't arrested was because they did not find the papers, imo.

[htuttle]

19. Hell, I bet he sold a copy to Iran

I'm sure they'd be very helpful in Tehran's ongoing lawsuit against the US and others for backing Saddam's invasion of Iran in the 1980's. I bet they'd pay top dollar for them.

[Spazito]

22. Ohhhhh, good point!

If Chalabi is an Iranian agent as is now being said, the Saddam documents could very well surface in a law suit.

[Beetwasher]

12. Yeah, And You Just Know There's LOT'S More That He Has That

he's probably not supposed to have and some things maybe even Bushco. doesn't know he has...This guy was in deep and had access to some heavy shit and probably had ample opportunity to do some damage as well...

[w4rma]

14. If that is the case then Chalabi should just anonymously post the relevant

records to the internet. As that would remove that reason for the BFEE coming after him. Of course it might also remove his ability to blackmail the BFEE, if that is what is happening.

I'm just kinda tossing out stuff with this post. I really don't understand at all what is going on with the internal fight over Chalabi. I haven't researched this area enough to know, imho.

[maddezmom]

18. update: the offices belong to the Water and Sewage Dept.

~snip~
Police Capt. Ahmed Saleh Mohammed said the order to vacate the building was issued by the Interior Ministry in Baghdad, which said the offices belonged to the provincial water and sewerage department.


After several hours, the staff said they received instructions from Chalabi to comply with the order. Chalabi was in Najaf on Sunday helping negotiate a truce in the eight-week standoff between U.S. troops and Shiite militiamen around the holy city.


On May 20, Iraqi police backed by U.S. troops raided Chalabi's residence, purportedly looking for documents and individuals charged in an arrest warrant issued by an Iraqi court.

~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040530/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_chalabi&cid=540&ncid=1480

[salin]

23. So, Chalabi's folks were essentially "squatters" in the building

and the Interior Dept was kicking them out.

Interesting. Changes the surface of the story... but raises other questions. Who runs that department - and is this an inner IGC power struggle?

[salin]

24. the (new) head of the Ministry of the Interior

On 09 April 2004 Ambassador Bremer met with the Iraqi Ministerial Committee on National Security, during which they addressed a number of issues, not the least of which was the appointment of the new Iraqi Interior minister and the appointment of Iraq's national security adviser. Following consultation with the Iraqi Governing Council, Ambassador Bremer named Mr. Samir Shakir Mahmoud el-Sumaidy, a Sunni Muslim businessman on the Governing Council, the new minister of Interior.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iraq/moi.htm

Prior to this the person in charge was:
The post of interior minister was held by another Shi'ite, Nuri al-Badran, who was tasked with the gradual takeover of security matters from U.S.-led forces.

On 04 April 2004 Iraq's Interior Minister, Nouri al-Badran, announced his resignation, saying he had heard the US-led administration was unhappy with his performance and wanted a different religious mix in the cabinet. Al-Badran, a Shi'ite Muslim, told reporters he had been told the US-led administration believes the defense minister and interior minister should not both be Shi'ite. A new defense minister's position was recently filled by a Shi'ite official. There was no immediate comment from the US-led administration. Al-Badran's announcement came as fighting continued in various cities in Iraq.

Wonder how these folks fit into the picture ala Chalabi and Allawi (sp)?

[maddezmom]

20. interesting link: Counterfeit trail led to Chalabi

~snip~
The way judge Zuhair Maleki related the story last week, a routine investigation into a giant currency fiddle eventually led to a heavily guarded Baghdad compound belonging to Ahmad Chalabi, the former London banker whose high-level US connections had eased him into a prominent role on the interim Iraqi Governing Council.

As the chief investigative judge of Iraq's central criminal court, Maleki was in charge of a curious case involving one of Chalabi's minions. Sabah Nouri, described by Maleki as a "former driver and smuggler with no qualifications", had been appointed to head an audit committee at the Iraqi finance ministry, which fell under Chalabi's council wing.

When evidence emerged that old dinars sent for burning were being switched with counterfeit bills – and that the genuine dinars were being represented in exchange for more dollars – Nouri apparently set off in hot pursuit of culprits.


This seemingly innocuous investigation into alleged currency fraud ultimately led Iraqi police to kick down the door to Chalabi's home, rousing him from his bed and provoking a startling political row over whether the man the Pentagon once regarded as its best friend in Iraq was spying for Iran.

~snip~
more: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9698810%255E2703,00.html

[FleshCartoon]

21. It looks like...

...the Iraqis don't want to wait until June 30th to have Uncle Sam decide who is to rule them. Seems like they're sending out a pretty strong message to BushCo.

More than any other gaffe and outright criminal action on the part of this MisAdministration, I firmly believe the Chalabi controversy will be the scandal to bite them in the asses.