A former Iraqi exile, Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress were a major force behind the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the intelligence -- now dismissed as seriously flawed -- that accused Saddam of developing weapons of mass destruction.
TIES WITH IRAN
His ties to Iran helped estrange him from the Pentagon and other U.S. supporters. He denied the charges of passing on U.S. secrets.
Chalabi visited Tehran at the weekend and met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other senior officials to discuss the Iraqi elections.
He said last week of the visit to the United States that it showed there was no "wall of ice" between him and the Bush administration.
The White House, describing how the U.S. visit came about, said Chalabi told Treasury Secretary John Snow he would come to Washington in the near future and Snow offered to meet Chalabi if his schedule allowed.
The statement, by the National Security Council's Jones, suggested Chalabi would meet Snow, but Treasury sources said Snow may be out of town.
As deputy prime minister, "Chalabi has a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities, including economic policy, essential services and infrastructure and the budget," Jones said.
The United States and Iraq have many important issues to discuss regarding development of Iraq's economy and Iraq's dealings with international financial institutions and groups holding Iraqi debt, he added.
