"Chalabi is en route to Baghdad by road from the southern town of Nasiriyah and should be in the Iraqi capital in two hours," or around 10:15 pm, Nabil al-Mussawi said by phone from the northern city of Mosul.

Mussawi, who is Chalabi's spokesman, said the INC leader would "help restore order and security" in Baghdad.

The formerly London-based Chalabi, who enjoys the backing of the Pentagon and strong ties in the US Congress, had been in Nasiriyah for around 10 days. He had previously spent nearly two months in Kurdish-held northern Iraq ahead of the US-British invasion tha toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Mussawi said Chalabi, who is accompanied by aides, has family homes in Baghdad, from where he hails, but would not go into details about where he will be staying.

"Baghdad is home for him, and even if he goes somewhere else (in Iraq), he'll return to Baghdad," Mussawi said.

He disputed the suggestion that Chalabi's arrival in the capital would fuel speculation that the INC chief was gearing up for a top leadership role in post-Saddam Iraq.

"Not necessarily," said Mussawi. "So far, he has not expressed the wish to play any role in the future. We hope we will dissuade him (and convince him) to change his mind."

Chalabi sent representatives to Tuesday's US-sponsored opposition meeting just outside Nasiriyah which ended with agreeement to reconvene in 10 days.

"We are not going to wait for a conference or anything else before attempting to give some dignity to our people," Musawi said in a reference to the chaotic situation and breakdown of services in Baghdad.

SPACE.WIRE