Hazim al-Shaalan

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Hazim al-Shaalan was Iraq's Defence Minister under the Iraqi Interim Government.

One January 15, 2005, the merh news agency in Tehran published a report that documents had emerged establishing that al-Shaalan had been a member of the Iraqi secret police, the Mokhaberat.

In January, shortly before the first Iraqi elections, al Jazeera reported that al-Shaalan threatened to arrest Ahmed Chalabi because "he sought to tarnish the reputation of the Defense Ministry and the Defense Minister.""

According to an article published in The Independent, on September 19, 2005, al-Shallan appointed Ziyad Cattan, as the Defence Ministry's procurement chief, who has since fallen under suspicion of involvement in "the greatest theft in history".

Prior to his return to Iraq, following the fall of Saddam Hussein, The Independent says al-Shaalan was a small businessman in London.

al-Shaalan received an exemption from the cabinet of Iyad Allawi's administration for having his ministry's expenditures overseen by the cabinet's audit committee.

al-Shaalan has claimed that the Coalition Provisional Authority's interim administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, signed off on the appointment of Cattan. Bremer claims he never heard of Cattan.

The Independent says both al-Shaalan and Cattan are living in Jordan.