Chalabi aide is suspected spy
A U.S. intelligence source said information about Karim's activities came in part from a detainee at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are being held.
Another source with access to sensitive intelligence and who was interviewed separately confirmed that the United States had developed information leading it to believe "this guy is an agent of the Iranians."
It also was unclear yesterday whether the arrest warrant for Karim was related to his alleged espionage activity. At a news conference, Chalabi said a member of his staff told him three agents "supervising" the raid had identified themselves as "from the FBI and CIA." An FBI official in Washington said his agency was not involved in the Baghdad raid, and a CIA spokesman said none of his agency's personnel were present.
Chalabi confirmed that one of the arrest warrants named Karim, but that Karim was not detained. A senior law enforcement and justice official in Iraq told the AP yesterday that warrants had been issued for the arrests of "up to 15 people" on allegations of "fraud, kidnapping and associated matters."
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-wochal213812290may21... SEPTEMBER 1999, pages 17-18
Special Report
Using “Secret Evidence” Based on Translation, Transcription Errors, U.S. Orders Two Iraqi Kurds Deported
By Betty Molchany
In October 1996, over 6,500 Iraqis were flown by the U. S. government to Guam, and then in March 1997 to California, to escape President Saddam Hussain after U.S. Central Intelligence Agency efforts to build up an anti-Saddam network in Iraqi Kurdistan collapsed with the appearance of Iraqi troops in the area. Upon their arrival in Guam, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) imprisoned some of these same Iraqis, despite their having worked with the CIA, and put them through exclusionary proceedings, based upon secret charges, secret evidence, and secret witnesses. Among these imprisoned Iraqis were two brothers who were subsequently ordered to be deported to Iraq, where both have been sentenced to death.
Background Prior to Arrival in the United States
Dr. Ali Yassin Mohammad Karim and his brother, Mohammad Yassin Mohammad Karim, Iraqi Kurds, were brought to California in March 1997 by the United States government and placed in an immigration detention center there, where they continue to be imprisoned.
In Iraq, Dr. Ali Karim had served with the Iraqi National Congress (INC), a group formed and working with the CIA to depose and replace the president of Iraq. Dr. Karim provided medical care to the INC and the CIA. He also wrote and delivered daily political commentary on the INC radio broadcast system, of which he was the manager. Never in his life did he carry or use a firearm, nor did he serve in any military capacity.
Mohammad Karim, not being in a profession, was compelled to serve in the Iraqi military, but as a non-combatant. During the Iraq-Iran war, he witnessed atrocities committed against fellow Kurds. He was so traumatized by his experiences that his family had him given eight electrical shock treatments which ultimately caused the loss of much of his memory. He suffers from severe clinical depression and is now more like a child who needs continued medical care and the assistance of another. He and “Dr. Ali” are fluent in English.
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http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0999/9909017.html Chalabi to CPA: "Relationship is non-existent."
BAGHDAD — By now, many of you know about the raid today on Ahmed Chalabi’s house and two offices of the INC in Baghdad at about 9:30 a.m. local time. Some evidence and weapons were confiscated, senior Coalition officials said, and “several” people were arrested. There was no resistance, officials said, but footage after the raid showed that the place had been trashed.
The official line is that this was an Iraqi police procedure, with search and arrest warrants handed down by an Iraqi judge after CPA head Paul Bremer referred an allegation 10 months ago to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. The charges include fraud, kidnapping and “associated matters.” (No expansion on that.)
There have been some crimes and incidents that have been acted by Iraqi personnel, and those incidents took place against Iraqis. A small group of people were detained by these criminals and tortured. And also, there have been a number of incidents of kidnapping and also killing someone because — for personal purposes. And in addition to that, they have also captured — or they have just took over some of the government facilities. And those people have been — there was a warrant of capturing and seizing those people, but unfortunately, it was not possible to capture them. They are now — away from the law — they are outlaws.
Abdullah Araji
Azid Samir Aziz
Amar Mohammed Raib
Vafir Mohammed Raib
Aras Habib — possibly Aras Habib Karim, a colonel in the FIF and close associated of Chalabi. He may have been the man in charge of the INC’s quest to hunt down former high-level Ba’athists in Iraq
Dezi Mavi
Hassan Mahad
Dr. Hamam
Senior Coalition officials mentioned that several people listed in the arrest warrants involving the INC offices were not arrested because they were not there; the above list is apparently those people. Judge Al-Moathin took no questions.]
People on the scene of the raid report U.S. tanks being used to back up the Iraqi cops. Senior Coalition officials, in a background briefing, said they had no knowledge of this and referred all questions to the investigating officers of the Iraqi Police force. At today’s 6 p.m. briefing chief CPA spokesman Dan Senor resolutely refused to address any details about the raid, also referring reporters to the Iraqi police force and the investigative judge.
Chalabi, predictably, was pretty pissed off. “When America treats its friends this way then they are in big trouble,” Chalabi said on CNN. “My relationship with the Coalition Provisional Authority now is non-existent.”
“Let my people go,” he — incredibly, and tastelessly — said at his press conference. “Let my people be free.”
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:4MnPJALKd5IJ:www.back-to-iraq.com ...
NIELS FRENZEN: The government collected these allegations and then stopped -- accepted these allegations as true. There was no investigation done. They gathered raw information; they put it down on a piece of paper; they improperly and perhaps illegally stamped "secret" on this piece of paper, and then they condemned our clients.
JEFFREY KAYE: The defense points to newly released accusations against Dr. Karim, which they say show government misunderstanding and confusion. The government says Dr. Karim deceived them by not revealing his true last name is "Al-Ufayli." Government records show that nobody with the Al-Ufayli name was supposed to be processed to come to the U.S. to avoid admitting relatives of this man - Aras Habib Mohammed Karim, now living in London. The government believes he is an Iranian agent, a charge he denies, and that is real family name is "Al-Ufayli." Although Dr. Karim admits being related, he says he never lied about his last name, which is at the center of the government's case against him.
J6cNWBUrGMJ:www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec98/iraq_9-4.html+Aras+Kari... " target="_blank">
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache J6cNWBUrGMJ:www.pbs.org/newshour...
Convicted in absentia in Jordan for his part in an massive embezzlement=20
> scandal, Chalabi received up to $12 million from Washington after the firs=
t=20
> Gulf war.=20
>=20
> He will be working with Reilly (see power-brokers) on broadcasting and=20
> communications in the new Iraq. Often referred to as "Cheney's prot=E9g=
=E9'',=20
> he is unpopular in Iraq and loathed by Colin Powell's state department. He=
=20
> has also fallen out of favour with the CIA, which in the early 1990s funde=
d=20
> the INC to the tune of $325,000 a month. However, in a recent trip to=20
> Israel, organised by Jinsa, he tried to warm up relations regarding Iraq's=
=20
> post-regime change. Other Iraqis involved in a future government -- at the=
=20
> behest of Wolfowitz -- include INC members Salem Chalabi (Chalabi's nephew=
)=20
> and Aras Habib. Habib's cousin, Dr Ali Yassin Karim, a former medic with=20
> the CIA, was nearly kicked out of the agency but was saved by the CIA's=20
> James Woolsey. Wolfowitz also wants jobs to go to Chalabi's friends Tamara=
=20
> Daghestani and Goran Talebani.=20
>=20
> Zalmay Khalilzad=20
>=20
> Afghanistan-born Khalilzad is Bush's special envoy to Afghanistan and Iraq=
=20
> and has a wide variety of oil interests. He co-wrote an article on Saddam,=
=20
> entitled Overthrow Him, with Wolfowitz, his former boss. A consultant with=
=20
> the oil company Unocal, he was pushing for a natural gas pipeline in=20
> Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, and worked under Condoleezza Rice=20
> when she served as director of Chevron. He is also a close associate of=20
> George Shultz, and encouraged Schultz to use Iran to help topple Saddam. H=
e=20
> is a former Rand Corp employee and a charter member of the PNAC.=20
>=20
> (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is=20
> distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in=
=20
> receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)=
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:BE0iuIO5MzoJ:www.uwsa.com/piperma ...
He will be working with Reilly (see power-brokers) on broadcasting and communications in the new Iraq. Often referred to as “Cheney’s protégé”, he is unpopular in Iraq and loathed by Colin Powell’s state department. He has also fallen out of favour with the CIA, which in the early 1990s funded the INC to the tune of $325,000 a month. However, in a recent trip to Israel, organised by Jinsa, he tried to warm up relations regarding Iraq’s post-regime change. Other Iraqis involved in a future government – at the behest of Wolfowitz – include INC members Salem Chalabi (Chalabi’s nephew) and Aras Habib. Habib’s cousin, Dr Ali Yassin Karim, a former medic with the CIA, was nearly kicked out of the agency but was saved by the CIA’s James Woolsey. Wolfowitz also wants jobs to go to Chalabi’s friends Tamara Daghestani and Goran Talebani.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/The_power_brokers_041303.htm Aras Habib Hazim al-Araji Mohamed Hassan Mohamed
Al-Sadr's militia still held portions of Karbala and Najaf. A Shiite imam in Najaf accused the militia of firing on a mosque and appealed to coalition forces for help.
Some al-Sadr followers tried to distance themselves from the violence. "We condemned the looting and the kidnapping ... the bad things that have happened," said Hazim al-Araji, who manages al-Sadr's office in Baghdad's Kadhiiya neighborhood.
A Mahdi Army militiaman, identifying himself only as Abdullah, insisted "there are strangers who do this to give us a bad reputation."
"Now, we try to calm the people and the Americans try to escalate the situation," al-Araji claimed. Yet as he spoke, some 2,000 protestors, many armed with assault rifles, marched nearby chanting support for al-Sadr.
With a tape recorder turned on, Abdullah said he supported Fallujah's insurgents. With the recorder switched off, he denounced them as Baathist followers of Saddam - suggesting that any alliance between Sunni and Shia militants does not run deep.
http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:Kc72BMmckJAJ:www.pittsburghlive.c... Among the felony counts already filed are theft of government property, theft of government money, misrepresentation and abuse of power, he said. Some of the other charges are connected to the INC’s seizure of government-owned homes and cars, especially through the group’s effective control of the Ministry of Finance, the CPA official said.
The CCCI is also investigating whether INC officials, including Chalabi and his intelligence chief, Aras Habib, misused the Baath Party files they seized upon being helped into Iraq early by the U.S. military. Chalabi ultimately became head of the De-Baathification Committee, and U.S. officials believe that some Iraqis have been threatened with blackmail by being identified as Baath Party members if they declined to do the INC’s bidding, the CPA official said. “Just recently we learned of a situation where a senior official in the Ministry of Science and Technology refused to sign off on a contract brought in by the INC. He felt it was overpriced or that there was something else wrong with it. Because he refused, the minister and the De-Baathification Committee included his name on the list members, and they sent a letter saying you’re a Baathist and you’ll be eliminated.” The official also said about 1 billion dinars allocated for de-Baathification has mysteriously disappeared.
While the investigation is largely Iraqi-run, the CPA official admitted that the Iraqis until now have lacked the enforcement capacity: in fact, a warrant for Habib’s arrest was issued more than two weeks ago, he said. “But the Iraqi police were scared to go after such a high-profile target,” he told NEWSWEEK. Only U.S. troops could bring it off. As a result, the timing of the raid may have been politically motivated. CPA administrator L. Paul Bremer III is said to have grown increasingly disgusted with Chalabi’s behavior in recent months, officials said. And Bremer is keen to distance the CPA from Chalabi before the June 30 handover. “This is a wakeup call to the INC that you’re not above the law,” said one U.S. official. It may also signal the beginning of the end for Ahmad Chalabi.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5024660/site/newsweek /
Unidentified Woman: (Foreign language spoken)
HARRIS: At a Baghdad AM station, there's no interest in seeking advertising. Manager Mohamed Hassan Mohamed(ph) says IMN money is better. He believes his programming will become the national radio AM feed and sent to places like Mosul. He can beat any local station, he says, because he's part of the US-led administration.
Mr. MOHAMED HASSAN MOHAMED (Station Manager): We are the center, and the center, that means beside of the government. All this news, we get it from the government.
HARRIS: Both Mohamed in Baghdad and Fadhil, his counterpart in Mosul, say they are working for the Iraqi people. One person, a TV salesman in Mosul, wants all kinds of news, including quick details when explosions happen in his neighborhood. For that, he says, he has to turn to satellite.
Emily Harris, NPR News.
Al-Falahat identified Dr. Hamam Sa’id, deputy secretary general of the Islamic Labor Front political party, as the chief target of the PA strike. He added that the General Inspector (Al-Muraqih Al-‘Aam) of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood warned the Jordanian authorities about these threats, and was informed that the Jordanian government knew of these intentions and "has taken the necessary steps." Al-Falahat announced that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken precautions to preclude any PA action, and that the movement is taking these unprecedented threats very seriously. He described the PA scheme as "the fruit of its accords with the enemy and one of the appendices of the contemptuous security accords signed at Wye Plantation."
Al-Falahat denied any existence of a religious ruling by Dr. Hamam Sa’id, which allegedly sanctioned the killing of PA leaders. Dr. Sa’id has also denied these allegations, stating his concern for preventing a civil war within the Palestinian people. Sa’id claimed that these false accusations are an attempt to silence those voicing their opposition to peace accords with the enemy.
http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=188
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