Baghdad: Interpol has issued a red notice for the arrest of fugitive Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi at the request of Iraqi authorities on Tuesday on suspicion of planning attacks, a move likely to complicate attempts to defuse Iraq’s political crisis, media reported on Tuesday.
According to reports Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim politician with the Iraqiya bloc, fled from Baghdad in December when the Shi’ite-led government accused him of running death squads, a dispute that risked upsetting a delicate power-sharing agreement.
The vice-president, who is in Istanbul, has denied he was involved in murdering six judges and other officials. He says the charges are politically motivated and has refused to stand trial in Baghdad.
“My defense lawyer will present an appeal to Interpol in the next few days,” Hashemi said in a statement. “I won’t submit to pressure and blackmail.”
The case strained Iraq’s fragile coalition of Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish political blocs and generated fears of a return to the broad sectarian violence that wracked the country during the darker days of the war in 2006-2007.
“This is an escalation … while some Iraqi political blocs are trying to meet to solve problems, those which head the government are creating problems,” said Ahmed al-Massari, a senior Iraqiya lawmaker.
The Hashemi case is being closely monitored by Iraq’s neighbors concerned about the turmoil spinning into more Sunni versus Shi’ite violence, just months after the last American troops left the country in December.
The Red Notice issued by the international police organization calls on security forces in its 190 member countries to help locate al-Hashemi and bring him to justice.
“At the request of Iraqi authorities, Interpol has published a Red Notice for Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks in the country,” Interpol said in a statement.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference in Rome while on a trip to Italy that he believed Hashemi would return to Iraq after medical treatment.
“Hashemi continues with his initiatives regarding his legal problems,” Erdogan said. “We gave him all kinds support on this issue and we will continue to do so.”
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