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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has fired one of its most senior members for visiting Israel, a spokesman for the group said Monday.
During an emergency meeting, the leadership of the former exile group decided to ``fire Mithal al-Alusi from the Iraqi National Conference,'' spokesman Haidar al-Mousawi told The Associated Press.
Al-Alusi's visit to a terrorism conference angered his colleagues, who said they learned about the trip from the media. A part of Chalabi's inner circle, al-Alusi headed the de-Baathification Committee, which fired thousands of members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from their jobs.
Israel's daily Haaretz quoted al-Alusi as saying that many elements in Iraq are interested in diplomatic ties with Israel.
``His statements, which were carried by the media, do not represent the Iraqi National Congress' point of view,'' an INC statement said.
I really would like to sample some of the crack that made people believe that not only would it be possible (nay, easy!) to create a secular democracy in Iraq headed by Chalabi, but that one of the benefits of doing so would be that said secular democracy would be Israel-friendly.
(via War and Piece).