"Thwarted in his bid to be Iraq's leader, one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi has nevertheless captured a key position in the new government -- a deputy prime minister's spot and temporary control of the lucrative oil ministry. With his nephew also installed as finance minister, Chalabi and his family appear to have a firm grip on the country's purse strings."

"Ahmed Chalabi was, before the fall of Saddam Hussein, one of the best known Iraqi opposition figures in the West. He has fallen from grace dramatically since, and now faces a warrant for his arrest in Iraq. ... In May 2004, Mr Chalabi's home and offices were raided. He denounced the raid, which he said was carried out by American agents and Iraqi police, as politically motivated. There were whispers from Washington that Mr Chalabi had all along been duping the Americans by spying for the Iranians. It appeared that he was being sidelined by Washington because he and his organisation were one of the sources for intelligence about Iraq's weapons of destruction capability that is now widely viewed as faulty. In August 2004, Mr Chalabi and his nephew Salem Chalabi has arrest warrants issued against them while they were outside Iraq.