Iraq to arrest Ahmad Chalabi after Eid

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Iraq to arrest Ahmad Chalabi after Eid Ahmed Chalabi, the man behind the scene is he looking for asylum from prosecution from his National assembly post. Or maybe it's a game of while you watch the divisions delay the play it's the US decision of having the game go their way. Iraqi parliament approves new cabinet [and] Iraq to arrest Ahmad Chalabi after Eid [follow]. Iraqi parliament approves new cabinet www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-28 22:49:06 BAGHDAD, April 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday approved a list of 36-member new cabinet with two deputy premierships unnamed and five ministerial posts only filled temporarily. The incomplete lineup was approved by 180 votes in favor, out of a total of 185 votes cast in the 275-member parliament. Lawmakers warmly applauded the result announced by Hachim al-Hassani, speaker of the National Assembly, in the US-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Muslim, was named acting defense minister, but expected to hand over the portfolio to a Sunni Arab. Jaafari's Shiite alliance with 140 parliament seats rejected all candidates proposed by the Sunni groups, branding them as former Baathists. The cabinet has four deputy prime ministers, including Ahmed Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite, and Rowsch Nouri Shaways, former Vice President. The remaining two are yet to be named. Chalabi, a member of the Shiite dominated alliance, was also named as acting oil minister. Shaways, a Kurd, was also named as acting electricity minister. "It might not be the perfect cabinet, but all the posts were appointed based on the best options to serve Iraqi people and topush the political process forward," Jaafari said after the new cabinet list he proposed Wednesday was approved. "It is the first step in rebuilding a new Iraq," he stressed. Despite the overwhelming approval, critics saw the cabinet as incompetent. Meshaan al-Jubury, a Sunni parliament member,described the new government as one of "sectarian" which failed to represent the Sunni Arabs. "We were cheated," the outspoken MP told reporters, referring toan allegedly broken promise to include both the Sunnis and supporters of the outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a US-favored secular Shiite, Allawi's party won 40 seats in the assembly but turned out to be excluded from the Jaafari administration. Hassani said the horse-trading talks among the concerned parties will come to an end within days to fill the seven unnamed governmental posts. The apparently hasty vote for the cabinet came as Washington called for an early end to the stalemate over forming the government three months after the parliamentary elections. The government formation also coincided with the 68th birthday of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who has been held in US custody since he was captured in December 2003. Jaafari said the new cabinet's priority was to fight the corruption which "has reached a high level under the former regime." Enditem Iraq to arrest Ahmad Chalabi after Eid (Agencies) Updated: 2005-01-22 08:41 Iraq's interim defense minister said on Friday the government would arrest Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Ahmad Chalabi after the Eid al-Adha holiday on suspicion of maligning the defense ministry. The INC has emerged as a power broker in the main election list for the country's Shi'ite majority in the Jan 30. ballot and Chalabi is a contender for the post of prime minister. "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," Hazim al-Shaalan told Al Jazeera television. Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi, pictured in 2004. Iraqi interim Defense Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said the Baghdad government would shortly arrest prominent Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi for allegedly seeking to tarnish his and his ministry's reputation.[AFP/File] Chalabi, a cousin and rival of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, was not immediately available for comment. The satellite channel quoted Shaalan as saying Chalabi would be handed to Interpol over his conviction in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1992 of embezzling millions from Petra Bank, whose 1989 collapse shook Jordan's political and financial system. Chalabi, who founded and ran the bank during a long period when he lived in the country, denies any wrongdoing. "Our measures will start after Eid," Shalaan said. The Muslim feast began on Jan. 20 and ends on Sunday in most Arab states. Shaalan told London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published on Friday he would order the arrest after Chalabi accused the defense minister in an interview of stealing $500 million from the ministry and posted documents on a Web site accusing Shaalan of links to Saddam Hussein's government. Chalabi was the best-connected Iraqi opposition leader in Washington but after Saddam's fall became a vocal critic of U.S. policy in Iraq. A U.S.-appointed judge issued a warrant for Chalabi's arrest last year on charges of counterfeiting money, but the charges were dropped in September. Chalabi had brought together foes of Saddam, the former Iraqi president, under the umbrella of his Iraqi National Congress and spearheaded attempts by the U.S.-appointed Governing Council to remove members of Saddam's Baath party from positions of power.