AMMAN, Jordan, May 8 (UPI) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zibari said Sunday his country was seeking to resolve Jordan's legal issue with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi.
Zibari told reporters in Amman that Chalabi was "an elected leader in the Iraqi government, so we hope to resolve this issue, but without embarrassing Jordan or Iraq."
In 1992, Jordan's State Security Court sentenced Chalabi in absentia to 22 years for embezzling $200 million as chairman of the local Petra Bank that he co-established in the early 1980s.
Chalabi has denied his involvement and accused influential Jordanians of having framed him to hurt the bank, which eventually collapsed after he fled the kingdom.
Jordan recently said its position on Chalabi remained the same despite his new post as an Iraqi deputy prime minister.
Officials in Amman privately said Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Saturday asked King Abdullah to "close the Chalabi case" since he was now a senior member of the Baghdad government.
