Intelligence

Chalabi denies spying for Iran

Times Online - Newspaper Edition

From Tim Reid in Washington

AHMED CHALABI, the former Iraqi exile who has gone from White House favourite to pariah, angrily denied yesterday that he was an Iranian spy. He also challenged George Tenet, the CIA director, to present all his charges before Congress.

Mr Chalabi, who provided the Bush Administration with much of the dubious intelligence with which it made the case for war, hit out after anonymous officials told American newspapers that he might have passed US secrets to Iran.

The Los Angeles Times even suggested that Iran might have fed Mr Chalabi fake intelligence about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction to help him to dupe the Bush Administration into military action to depose its old enemy, Saddam Hussein.

Mr Chalabi has denounced the US occupation of Iraq since falling out of favour with Washington. The Pentagon terminated its $340,000 (£190,000) monthly payments to his Iraqi National Congress party last week, and had its Baghdad headquarters raided.

Appearing on several major US television networks yesterday, Mr Chalabi accused Washington of smear tactics. Asked if he worked for Iran, he said: “It’s not true. It’s a false charge. It’s a smear.”

He said the CIA, which had viewed the INC with scepticism for years, was trying to discredit him and that Mr Tenet was behind the accusation that he gave American secrets to Iran.

“We never provided any classified information from the US to Iran, neither I nor anyone in the INC. And that is a charge being put out by George Tenet,” he said.

“I say, let him bring all his charges, all his documents. We also will bring all our charges and all our documents to the US Congress, and let Congress have hearings and resolve this issue.”

May 23, 2004 at 09:21 PM in Iraq | Permalink | TrackBack (11) | Top of page | Blog Home