JOIN USInterpol on Tuesday said it had issued an international red notice for the arrest of Iraq’s fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on suspicion of “guiding and financing terrorist attacks”.
Hashemi, who is being tried in absentia in Baghdad for running a death squad, insisted in a statement that he was not above the law and was ready to appear in court if his security and a fair trial could be guaranteed.
“The red notice for al-Hashemi represents a regional and international alert to all of Interpol’s 190 member countries to seek their help in locating and arresting him,” the Lyon-based international police agency said.
Interpol said the notice, its highest possible alert, was issued following an Iraqi warrant made “as part of an investigation in which security forces seized bombing materials and arrested individuals”.
Hashemi, who was last known to be in Istanbul, and his bodyguards face around 150 charges, including the killing of six judges and other senior officials, according to an Iraqi judicial spokesman.
The decision to charge the key Sunni Arab leader sparked a political crisis that saw the vice president’s bloc boycott cabinet and parliament.
Hashemi said in a statement posted on his website early Tuesday that he was awaiting a “political solution” to the standoff. “I respect the (Iraqi) judiciary and I am not above the law and ready to face it if given a fair trial,” he said.