Iraq's vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi sentenced to death

	Iraq's vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi sentenced to death timesofearth.com BAGHDAD - Iraq's fugitive Sunni vice-president was sentenced to death Sunday after a Baghdad court found him guilty of masterminding the killings of a lawyer and a government security official. Hashimi was sentenced to hang in absentia "because he was involved directly in killing a female lawyer and a general with the Iraqi army," said Abdul Sattar al-Berqdar, a spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council. "There are many other charges against al-Hashimi, but this is one of the charges he was convicted of," al-Berqdar said Hashemi was the most senior Sunni Muslim in the predominantly Shia Iraqi government until he was charged last December and went on the run. The charges against him sparked a political crisis in Iraq. Other Sunni politicians denounced Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - who issued the warrant for Hashemi - as a dictator, accusing him of deliberate provocation that risked plunging the country back into sectarian conflict. Iraq's Central Criminal Court issued the same sentence for al-Hashimi's son-in-law, Ahmed Qahtan, who also was at-large. Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda have been blamed for much of the recent violence in Iraq. An arrest warrant was issued against al-Hashimi in December on charges of running death squads. Interpol has issued a Red Notice against him for alleged terrorist acts. The Red Notice is an international alert to Interpol member states for help locating and arresting the vice president on terrorism charges <b>...</b>	From: timesofearth Views: 0 0 ratings
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