I swear this guy has nine lives.
Chalabi back in the political limelight
By Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press Writer | March 1, 2007
BAGHDAD, Iraq --Dignitaries gathered last month for a gesture of reconciliation -- reopening a Sunni mosque in Shiite Sadr City. As the cameras panned the robes and turbans, there stood Ahmad Chalabi, elegantly attired in an expensive Western suit.
The ceremony was largely symbolic. Most of Sadr City's few Sunnis had fled Shiite militiamen. But the coverage gave Chalabi a chance to promote an image of a healer.
That may seem a minor role for a man who was once the Pentagon's favorite to lead Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Chalabi's star fell after his assurances that Saddam was hiding weapons of mass destruction proved false.
In his new post as head of a committee to build public support for the U.S.-Iraqi security operation, Chalabi reports directly to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. There's already talk of a Cabinet position later.
That would put Chalabi, a Westernized secular Shiite who spent much of his life abroad, back in the halls of power and reinforce his image as Iraq's ultimate political survivor.
"There is a firm belief that he is capable of running a ministry, whether it is linked to services or security," a top adviser to al-Maliki said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss Cabinet plans.
Chalabi's dogged determination to remain a player has enabled him to survive numerous setbacks, any one of which could have sunk his public career.
His dreams of running Iraq were derailed on the eve of the March 2003 invasion, when the Americans decided to administer the country themselves after ousting Saddam. Instead, Chalabi was appointed to the 25-member Iraq Governing Council, a largely powerless body which the U.S. established as the forerunner of a future government.
Chalabi's links to Iran and his complaints about U.S. administration of an oil revenue fund led to a fallout with U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer, who picked his rival Ayad Allawi as prime minister of the first independent, transitional government.
Rather than give up, Chalabi instead nurtured his ties to the Shiite religious leadership, including anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in hopes of softening his image as a secular outsider more at home in Washington than in the dusty towns and cities of Iraq.
That wasn't enough to win a parliament seat in the December 2005 election. Before the vote, Chalabi traveled to Washington, where some commentators speculated he could end up as Iraq's prime minister.
Instead, Chalabi's faction failed to win a single seat.
But his new job offers at least a shot at a return to power in a political system where unpredictability is the only certainty.
His Civil Support Committee, among other things, awards compensation for property damaged during security raids. His role also offers him a voice in security and an opportunity to meet with tribal leaders, including Sunnis, in an attempt to shore up his biggest weakness -- a lack of public support.
In one recent report, his committee recommended better background checks on members of the security forces and banning certain Iraqi units from serving in specific neighborhoods.
Another of Chalabi's reports bluntly says the government must remind Iraq's mostly Shiite soldiers and police that their job is to fight terrorism, "not to abuse citizens."
He is also trying to steer his way through the minefield of Iraq's sectarian politics -- a difficult task for a politician whose appeal in Washington and the West stemmed largely from a secular reputation.
Over the past year, Chalabi has attended the funerals of Shiite victims of the sectarian killings and joined the leaders of Shiite political parties in performing the religious rituals on holy days.
During one recent Shiite holy day, Chalabi wore a black T-shirt and matching blazer to join hundreds of Shiites at a ceremony that was aired live on Iraqi TV stations. Chalabi pounded his chest and wept -- traditional gestures for deeply religious Shiites but not on the campuses of MIT and the University of Chicago, where he earned degrees in mathematics.
"He has recognized the sectarian character of Iraqi politics," said Mustapha Alani, a Dubai-based Iraqi analyst. "So, he changed from being a secular politician to being a sectarian politician."
Chalabi's image among Sunnis was poor because of his role as head of the committee that removed former Saddam loyalists from government jobs and politics. That effectively cost thousands of Sunnis their livelihood and fueled the insurgency.
Ali Faisal al-Lami, a close aide, said Chalabi has tightened regulations governing the dismissal of former members of Saddam's Baath party to make sure the purge was limited to top Baath figures.
He has allowed about 12,500 former party members to return to their jobs, albeit acting on American pressure.
The reinstatement of low-ranking Baathists has been a key U.S. demand to achieve national reconciliation in Iraq, but al-Maliki's government has yet to adopt a draft law offered by Chalabi to make it more difficult to fire Baathists.
© Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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