>From AxisofLogic.com
Middle East Brahimi versus Chalabi: The daggers are drawn By Patrick Seale May 1, 2004, 13:25
Of all the vicious battles being fought in Iraq, the one between Lakhdar Brahimi and Ahmed Chalabi could be decisive for the future of the country. The two men are deadly enemies, but theirs is not only a trial of strength between individuals. Powerful forces are ranged behind them and it would be rash, in today's highly fluid military and political situation, to hazard a guess as to who will emerge the victor.
Chalabi wants to rule Iraq after the transfer of sovereignty at the end of June. Brahimi is determined to prevent him from doing so. A former Algerian foreign minister and United Nations trouble-shooter in Afghanistan, Brahimi is the man of the hour.
The United States and Britain are relying on him to find a way out of the catastrophic mess in which they find themselves in Iraq. He has been given the task of proposing how and by whom Iraq will be governed in the transition period between June 30, when the US is due to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis, and nation-wide elections scheduled for January 2005.
Chalabi has had a very different career. A former banker and convicted fraudster, he is the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, INC, a body of exiles which lobbied vigorously in Washington for the overthrow of Saddam Hussain.
Chalabi and the INC are believed to have fed the American intelligence community with false and fabricated information on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. They are said to be on the Pentagon payroll to the tune of $340,000 a month.
Today, Chalabi is a prominent member of the American-appointed Iraq Governing Council in Baghdad. He has placed several of his relatives and friends in the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Commerce, the Central Bank and other key posts.
He also pressed for the dissolution of the Iraqi army and is directing Iraq's "de-Baathification" programme – the purging of party members from government jobs and public life.