Iraq's vice president sentenced to death for terrorism
By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
Baghdad (dpa) - A court sentenced Iraq's vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi to death for terrorism on Sunday, in a ruling in absentia that could raise sectarian tensions in the country.
Al-Hashemi, the country's most senior Sunni Muslim official, left the country before the trial opened in Baghdad on May 3 and questioned whether he would be given a fair trial.
He was convicted of the assassination of security officials and a lawyer.
Al-Hashemi denied the charges, calling it a political ploy on the part of the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The court also sentenced al-Hashemi's son-in-law and office manager, Ahmed Qahtan, to death for the same charges.
Both men have the right to appeal within 30 days, judges said.
The secular-backed Iraqiya bloc have backed al-Hashemi and accused al-Maliki of trying to minimize the role of Iraq's minority Sunni community in order to rule with an iron fist.
Al-Hashemi had first sought refuge in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq in December, after an arrest warrant was issued against him. Later, reports said he was in Turkey.
Since the US troops left Iraq in December, al-Maliki's government has been in political deadlock and deadly attacks increased across the country, raising fears of a return to the sectarian tensions that drove Iraq close to civil war in 2006-2007.
"If al-Hashemi is really involved in these crimes, then terrorism cells will react to this verdict," said Aziz Jabur Shial, a professor of Political Science at at Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.
The verdict came shortly after a series of bombings across Iraq on Sunday, mainly targeting government security forces and Shiite-majority areas, killed 53 people.
"On the other hand, if al-Hashemi is not involved in terrorism cases, then al-Iraqiya bloc will react, though it will be hard for them to make a strong reaction since the bloc is crumbling now," Shial told dpa.
The Iraqiya bloc has weakened since the charges were announced against al-Hashemi, with a short-lived boycott of parliament.
Meanwhile, Habib al-Tarfi, a lawmaker from al-Maliki's National Alliance bloc in parliament, said there should be no objections to the verdict as the judiciary was independent.
"Judiciary in Iraq is an independent body ... and al-Hashemi had the chance to appear in court and defend himself during the trial," al-Tarfi said.
