King of Jordan to pardon Iraq's deputy PM over $300m bank fraud

[emad]

King of Jordan to pardon Iraq's deputy PM over $300m bank fraud
By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
11 May 2005


King Abdullah of Jordan has agreed to pardon Ahmed Chalabi, the controversial Iraqi political leader, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for fraud after his bank collapsed with $300m (£160m) in missing deposits in 1989.

Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi President, asked the king to resolve the differences between Jordan and Mr Chalabi, now Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, during a visit to Ammanthis week.

Latif Rashid, the Iraqi minister of water resources, said Mr Talabani confirmed to him that King Abdullah had promised, in effect, to quash the conviction. He expected there would first be a meeting between Jordanian officials and Mr Chalabi "who has some questions of his own."

The expected pardon, is the latest twist in the extraordinary career of Mr Chalabi, now again in the ascendant as an important member of the Shia coalition and the new Iraqi government. Only a year ago US soldiers raided his house in Baghdad, put a gun to his head, arrested two of his supporters and seized papers. He was accused of passing intelligence information to Iran.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=637424

PARDON????I beg your pardon.....

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. Yeah, everything points to his being an outstanding individual

NOT.

[Bridget Burke]

5. Gosh, sounds interesting!

Gotta link?

[bertha katzenengel]

6. You know what I like to do in cases like these? (hijack)

I like to correct the grammar and spelling. Am I an asshole? Maybe. But it's so much fun.

[Bozita]

9. You surrendered one of the all-time great screen names?

Bertha Venation

makes me lmao

[bertha katzenengel]

10. :D You can still laugh at it.

It's still mine (well, it's really Harvey's). I just don't use it anymore.

[applegrove]

3. Seymour Hersh said he heard Bush just plain asked the King when

the King visited (this is right after Chalabi was arrested for spying for Iran) and the King couldn't believe it. The trial about Chalabi brought up horrendous things that had been done to poor women's savings. The King went back to Jordan to ask his parliament and they said "no way". So the King had to wait 6 months to do the Royal degree (or whatever)to give Chalabi a pardon.

I think Chalabi has too much "info" on Bush & the Neocons who he has been working with for years. I don't think that Bush has any say in the matter. And for sure, somehow, an extra bit of millions will flow through to Jordan from the USA (I guess). I hope the millions of old women who lost everything get a little bit of it.

Chalabi gets what Chalabi wants. Didn't the neocons learn anything from dealing with Saddam?

[radwriter0555]

4. HEY! that's like when bush senior pardoned the iran-contra 7! LUCKY!!!

what lucky, lucky fellas, eh?

[Bozita]

7. Maybe US taxpayers made restitution -- Did we pay for this?

[NNN0LHI]

8. King Abdullah is just as much as a thug as Bush and Chalabi

I have been saying this for years but no one wanted to hear it. Just because he wears nice suits, has a trophy wife, and rides a Harley does not make this scum a nice guy.

Don