The Legitimacy of Saddam's Trial
Another Chalabi
Al-Jazeera - 7/13/2004
Salem Chalabi, nephew of former U.S. puppet Ahmed Chalabi. How far has Salem followed the footsteps of his uncle? How far is that linked to the failure we all sensed in the new Iraqi judiciary?
As the debate over the legitimacy of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s trial fury on many critics have exposed a web business and family network that currently operate in the new U.S. backed Iraqi judiciary. At the head of these networks stands the looming figure of Ahmed Chalabi, and his shadow is the daunting cast upon all the processes of the judiciary including those having hand in the theatrical trial of toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Nephew of Ahmed Chalabi, Salem Chalabi is a U.S.-educated lawyer and the head of the U.S.-formed tribunal to investigate and try Saddam Hussein. According to Australian radio, as of late April 2004, Salem had "appointed the seven judges and four prosecutors who will try Saddam Hussein and others from his regime who will be charged by the new tribunal."
According to Counterpunch columnist Dave Lindorff, the problem with Salem's heading the Hussein tribunal isn't "just that his uncle is Ahmed. Salem himself is linked directly to the Bush administration. His business partner Mark Zell runs a law firm in partnership with U.S. Undersecretary of Defense and long-time neo-conservative Iraqi War hawk Douglas Jay Feith - whose office oversees the graft and scandal-ridden reconstruction program in Iraq."
Following his uncle’s footsteps, Salem Chalabi is also accused of wearing too many 'hats' in the new Iraq.
As Ahmed Chalabi had friends within the Bush Administration and was condemned for being the source for much of the now discredited intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs. Similar concerns are surrounding Salem Chalabi's links to the U.S., as Rafael Epstein reported.
Rafael Epstein stated that Salem Chalabi has been to the Hague and he's looked at post-war tribunals in Bosnia, Rwanda and the Balkans.
Many Iraqis have a dim view Salem Chalabi of because of his conviction in absentia for embezzlement in Jordan in the 1980s. However, however Chalabi denied the charges claiming that Saddam Hussein helped frame him.
Now how far do you still trust the ligitimacy of Saddam Hussein's trial?
He is also criticised outside of Iraq for being the key supplier of misleading intelligence reports on Iraq's weapons programs.
L. Marc Zell, a Jerusalem-based attorney, is the former partner of Douglas Feith, the Pentagon undersecretary who was a major force behind the push for war.
Salem Chalabi, has set up a law firm in Baghdad and has boasted of daily contact with his uncle, who has emerged as a powerful figure in the new Iraqi interim government.
In an interview, Zell said Salem Chalabi owns the Baghdad law firm, while Zell helped create the idea and is marketing the firm to U.S. and other clients. However, Zell said his previous 15-year partnership with Feith, and Salem Chalabi's family ties, are separate from the work the pair is doing in Iraq.
Previously Salem Chalabi's Iraqi International Law Group hinted at its ability to offer clients the advantages of its close contacts with the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority and the 24-member Iraqi Governing Council, upon which his uncle sits.
"You cannot adequately advise about Iraq unless you are here day in and day out ... At IILG, we don't talk about coming to Iraq - we are in Iraq," its Web site reads. Salem Chalabi couldn't be reached.
The Zell-Salem Chalabi venture is just one of several firms with ties to the Bush administration and influential Iraqis hoping to profit from Iraq's reconstruction, a years-long project that World Bank and other estimates say will cost at least $56 billion.
Critics say the Zell-Chalabi effort in particular crosses an ethical line by appearing to play on family connections in Iraq to give clients a leg up in getting business. Coupled with no-bid contracts awarded to politically connected firms like Bechtel and Halliburton, critics say, these firms give credence to doubts expressed by skeptical allies and Iraqis over the Bush administration's true motives.
Those strong, long established ties between Salem and th U.S. bring more doubts into the legitimacy of Saddam Hussein's trial.
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