UPDATE ~ Chalabi named to deputy prime minister post in new Iraq cabinet News
UPDATE ~ Chalabi named to deputy prime minister post in new Iraq cabinet

[JURIST] Following up on a story reported Thursday on JURIST, prominent Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive] was named deputy prime minister and acting oil ministry chief in the Cabinet approved Wednesday by the interim national assembly in Iraq [JURIST news archive]. At one point the US favorite to lead Iraq following Saddam Hussein's ouster, Chalabi appeared to fall from favor last year after he was linked to intelligence leaks to Iran, misleading information on Iraqi weapons and a counterfeiting scandal. Chalabi's recent appointments, as well as his nephew's installation as finance minister, leave his family in a prominent position with regard to Iraq's economy. Chalabi has faced charges of corruption throughout his political career, including a 1992 conviction in Jordan for embezzlement, fraud and breach of trust after a bank he managed collapsed and $300 million went missing. During Saddam's rule, Chalabi led the Iraqi National Congress [Wikipedia article], one of the leading opposition groups abroad. Chalabi was a candidate on Ibrahim al-Jaafari's Shiite political party ticket. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.