Ahmad Chalabi Scheduled For Arrest

Aljazeera.Net reports:

Ahmad Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, will be arrested after the Eid al-Adha holidays, Iraq's interim defence minister has said.

Speaking to Aljazeera, minister Hazim Shaalan, said Chalabi would be handed over on arrest to the Interpol.

Shaalan said Chalabi was suspected of killing thousands of opposition figures in Arbil and stoking discord between the two main Kurdish parties.

"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 defence ministry," Shaalan said.

Chalabi is wanted by Interpol from a Jordanian court conviction in absentia for embezzling millions from the Petra Bank which severely stressed the political and financial systems in Jordan.

Obviously, Iraq has developed a kinder and gentler approach to dealing with convicted criminals by sending out the pending arrest notification. It's not clear what they are trying to accomplish, but it probably wouldn't be inappropriate nor surprising if Chalabi announced he would be unavailable while being treated for an undisclosed illness at an unknown location.