An arrest warrant was issued by an Iraqi judge over the weekend for Ahmad Chalabi and his nephew Salem Chalabi. But Salem Chalabi says the charges are intended to derail the trial of Saddam Hussein: Salem Chalabi Says Charges Undermine Saddam Trial.

An Iraqi judge issued arrest warrants for both Salem Chalabi and his uncle, leading politician and former Pentagon ally Ahmad Chalabi. Salem Chalabi was accused of playing a role in the murder of a Finance Ministry official, while his uncle was charged with counterfeiting.

“The charges are ridiculous,” Salem Chalabi told BBC radio in London. He said he had been accused of threatening a man who was later killed, but denied he had ever met him.

He said the judge who issued the arrest warrant had criticized the procedures established for trying Saddam.

“The fact that it was leaked means there was some element of a smear campaign against me, and therefore against the tribunal, trying to discredit the tribunal, which I think has happened now,” he said. “That’s what is troubling me. I want to go back and continue the work. There are a large number of staff still working, trying to do the investigations. But under these kind of allegations it makes it more difficult.”