AMMAN, Jan. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Jordan said Monday that the plan by the interim Iraqi government to arrest Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi is an internal affair of the war-torn country.

    However, Jordan welcomed a possible extradition of Chalabi if heis arrested, Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khader told the press.

    Chalabi was convicted and remains a wanted man in Jordan in connection with the 1989 collapse of Jordan's Petra Bank, Khader said.

    "If he is extradited, then the necessary legal measures will be taken against him," said the spokeswoman.

    In 1992, an total of 342 million US dollars were missing from Petra Bank, when Chalabi was president.

    Chalabi was also convicted by the Jordan's State Security Court of embezzlement, theft, forgery and currency speculation among other charges, according to Khader.

    He was sentenced to 22 years of hard labor and ordered to repay more than 494 million dollars in embezzled funds. But Chalabi fled the country before his trial got underway.

    Iraqi Defence Minister Hazim Shaalan said Sunday he would have Chalabi arrested and handed over to Jordan.

    At the start of the 1990s, Chalabi was once favored by the Pentagon. But he fell out with the United States last year. Enditem