As Saliyah: Ahmad Chalabi, the man widely tipped to be Iraq's next leader, is not
the United State's preferred choice of ruler of the war-torn country, top US
officials said on April 14.
"Chalabi is one of the recognised leaders of the Opposition to Saddam Hussein, we
also have contacts with a number of other leaders," they said when asked the
officials, on condition of anonymity, briefing media at US Central Command.
"I don't think we are in the business of anointing someone," they said.
The remarks came a day before the first meeting of Iraqi Opposition groups expected
to lay out its vision of a post-war Iraq.
An internal feud has emerged in Washington between the state department and the
Central Intelligence Agency on one side and the Pentagon and parts of the White
House on the other-much of it surrounding Chalabi.
Chalabi has riled the CIA and state department with his flamboyant style and
pronouncements, even though only two weeks ago the state department restored some
funding to his Iraqi National Congress suspended last year over management concerns.
