Trial Of Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Postponed

May 03, 2012

by RFE/RL

The trial in absentia of Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, accused of terrorism in connection with running a death squad, has been postponed for a week, until May 10.

On May 3, Hashimi’s lawyers appealed to a Baghdad court to have parliament create a special court to hear the case.

Hashimi, the top minority Sunni official in the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government, has dismissed the charges as a politically motivated attack by Shi'ite rivals and has fled Iraq.

He and some of his guards were charged on April 30 with being behind the murders of six judges.

The original case against him was filed in December after U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq.

The pullout sparked a political crisis that saw Hashimi's bloc boycott cabinet and parliament.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP and RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq_trial_al-hashemi/24568327.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.