U.S. Raids HQ of Iraqi Politician Ahmad Chalabi

[seruriermarshal]

U.S. Raids HQ of Iraqi Politician Ahmad Chalabi


BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police surrounded the residence of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi (search) on Thursday, and an aide said the troops raided the house ostensibly to search for fugitives.



I hear this news , Soon more news .

[seruriermarshal]

U.S. Troops Surround Chalabi's House

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police surrounded the residence of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday, and an aide said the troops raided the house ostensibly to search for fugitives.

The aide, Haidar Musawi, accused the Americans of trying to pressure Chalabi, who was a longtime Pentagon favorite now openly critical of U.S. plans for how much power to transfer to the Iraqis on June 30.

He said the Americans also raided offices of Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress.

``The aim is to put political pressure,'' Musawi told The Associated Press. ``Why is this happening at a time when the government is being formed?''

There was no comment from the U.S. military press office. Police sealed off the residence in the city's fashionable Mansour district and would not allow reporters to approach. At least two Humvees could be seen, with a dozen U.S. troops milling about.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have accused Chalabi of trying to interfere with an investigation into alleged corruption of the U.N.-run oil-for-food program, in which Saddam Hussein's government was allowed to sell oil despite international sanctions to buy food and humanitarian supplies.

Critics allege that former regime officials, in collusion with U.N. figures, skimmed a fortune off the revenues.

Several armed Westerners were also seen, wearing flak vests and using SUVs without license tags - vehicles associated here with U.S. security.

Some people could be seen loading boxes into vehicles, and neighbors said some members of Chalabi's entourage were taken away.

Salem Chalabi, nephew of Ahmad Chalabi and head of the Iraqi war crimes tribunal, said his uncle told him by telephone that Iraqi and American authorities ``entered his home and put the guns to his head in a very humiliating way that reminds everyone of the conduct of the former regime.''

The younger Chalabi said the reason for the raid was unclear but ``they must be afraid of his political movement.''

``They came this morning, entered the office of Dr. Ahmad Chalabi and said that they were looking for people,'' said Abdul Kareem Abbas, an INC official. He said they wanted to make arrests.

The police took personal documents belonging to Chalabi and his computer.

``At the beginning, we tried to resist. But we couldn't because they came with U.S. troops,'' Abbas said.

Another official, Qaisar Wotwot, said the operation was linked to Chalabi's recent comments demanding full Iraqi control of oil revenues and security after the June 30 transfer of power.

``It's a provocative operation, designed to force Dr. Chalabi to change his political stance,'' he said.

Another INC official, who refused to give his name, said the raiding party ``didn't tell us what they were looking for and they did not show us a search warrant.''

No one was arrested, he said.

Musawi said the U.S.-Iraqi force surrounded the compound about 10:30 a.m., while Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, was inside. They told Chalabi's aides that they wanted to search the house for Iraqi National Congress officials wanted by the authorities.

The aides agreed to let one unarmed Iraqi policeman inside to look around.

``The Iraqi police were very embarrassed and said that they (the Americans) ordered them to come and that they didn't know it was Chalabi's house,'' Musawi said. ``The INC is ready to have any impartial and judicial body investigate any accusation against it. There are American parties who have a list of Iraqi personalities that they want arrested to put pressure on the Iraqi political force.''

Musawi said the Americans also seized computers from INC offices.

For years, Chalabi's INC had received hundreds of thousands of dollars every month from the Pentagon, in part for intelligence passed along by exiles about Saddam's purported weapons of mass destruction.

Chalabi has come under criticism since large stockpiles of such weapons were never found. Chalabi, a former banker and longtime Iraqi exile, was convicted of fraud in absentia in Jordan in 1992 in a banking scandal and sentenced to 22 years in jail. He has repeatedly denied the charges.

Chalabi has complained recently about U.S. plans to retain control of Iraqi security forces and maintain widespread influence over political institutions after power is transferred from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority to an Iraqi interim administration at the end of June.

Musawi said Chalabi ``had been clear on rejecting incomplete sovereignty....and against having the security portfolio remain in the hands of those who have proved their failure.''

[2Sheds_Jackson]

I was about to post a separate thread about the oil-for-food program, but since this one ties in...here goes.

From Foxnews;


U.N. Audit Found Early 'Oil-for-Food' Problems

Thursday, May 20, 2004

NEW YORK — An internal United Nations audit from 2003 found significant problems with the international organization's Iraqi oil-for-food program, revealing that millions of dollars went unaccounted for.

The 23-page audit by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (search) into the program — now the subject of an independent probe looking into allegations of abuse — also revealed problems with the oil-for-food program's administration, specifically with a company that employed Secretary General Kofi Annan's son as it prepared to bid for an oil-for-food contract.

The audit devotes almost 20 pages to the U.N.’s dealings with Cotecna (search), a Swiss-based company that was awarded a $4.8 million dollar contract for the oil-for-food program just months after Annan’s son, Kojo, ended a consulting assignment with the firm.

It is not clear if Annan himself ever read the audit. He has insisted in the past that he was unaware of any problems with the oil-for-food program while it was in operation. He has also denied any conflict of interest with his son’s involvement with Cotecna.

The April 8, 2003 report was addressed to Benon Sevan (search), former head of the oil-for-food program. Sevan has refused to talk to Fox News about the program or his role in the matter, except to say that he has done nothing wrong.

The document was obtained by Mineweb.com, an international mining publication based in South Africa that focuses on mining finance and corporate news.

The overall conclusion of the report is "that management of the Contract has not been adequate and certain provisions of the Contract have not been adhered to." The incorporation of additional costs was deemed "uneconomical" and the Contract was "amended prior to its commencement, which was inappropriate."

The Office of Iraq Programs needs to "strengthen its management of contracts and the Procurement Division should ensure that the basis of payment is appropriate in order to avoid additional costs to the Organization," the audit found.

Several references in the audit are damning to Cotecna and seem to openly question the relationship between the company and its U.N. client. Among the specific charges listed in the report:

— U.N. officials approved $356,000 in “additional costs” to the contract just four days after the proposal was signed.

— Within a year of the contract’s signing, it was amended to add other charges far above those originally approved. This included a hike in the "per man day fee" to $600 from an initial $499. This higher fee "was exactly equal to the offer of the second lowest bidder."

— Cotecna and U.N. officials understaffed inspection stations at entry points into Iraq, which “affects the performance of services."

— In northern Iraq, where Kurdish officials have said they were cheated out of billions of dollars in oil-for-food aid, there were no inspectors on the job. The result was "huge differences between the figures for goods reported to have arrived by the U.N. agencies and the contractor."

The audit found the oil-for-food administration had "been aware" of problems for years but had failed to adequately address them. And it determined no one from the United Nations monitored Cotecna agents operating in Iraq.

“In absence of a contract manager, there can be no assurance that the services provided were in consonance with the spirit and letter of the Contract,” the audit stated.

But after the report's April 2003 submission — and just three months before handing over control of the oil-for-food program to the Coalition Provisional Authority (search) in Iraq — the United Nations signed a new $9.8 million contract for Cotenca.

Cotenca officials declined to answer individual questions about the the company's participation in the program or the role of Kojo Annan. In the past, they've issued statements denying any wrongdoing and maintaining they properly followed all U.N. regulations

U.N. officials have said the internal audits and other relevant documents have been handed over to Paul Volcker, who was named by Annan last month to investigate the growing scandal. Volcker has declined requests for interviews, but is expected to make an appearance at a U.N. press briefing on Thursday.

Here's the raw report (.pdf file); http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/un_oilforfood_audit.pdf

I can't wait to see what floats to the surface of this scandal. We should see people running for cover any time now.

[Argyll]

If he has nothing to hide,then he's nothing to fear ;)

[talib_killa34]

The worm has definately turned.


p-)

[One?]

chalabi is wanted in Jordan for fraud. But the US protected him because he was her puppy. The tables turned. hehe I hope he goes to jail too. The 340,000 he was getting every month could of helped millions of iraqis.

[usa320]

my guess is he was milking the oil-for food program as much as saddam and the UN were.

[Supes]

FINALLY! They start to do something about this lying SOB! Damn him for his greed and lying of intelligence to us.

[muede]

Scapegoat? p-)

But seriously its about the friggin time to get rid of him. I just fear that Ahmed and his pals arent the only one to blame, because seriously, had somebody even really studied what he claimed... well his stuff just never hold water.

But can you blame him for trying to be the king of Iraq? or Caliph instead of the Caliph? Certainly had he made it, it would have been kick ass! for him.. :D

http://membres.lycos.fr/jeantabary/images/iznogoud_image.jpg

Poor Ahmed seriously reminds me of Iznogoud ;)