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An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced fugitive Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and his aide to death in absentia. "The Central Criminal Court of Iraq issued two verdicts of death penalty by hanging for Tariq al-Hashimi and the head of his office Ahmed Qahtan," the state-run Iraqia channel said. Hashimi and his son-in-law Qahtan are believed to be living in Turkey now. They have been tried in absentia over alleged role in ordering to kill security members and government officials. On Dec. 19, 2011, an Iraqi arrest warrant was issued against Hashimi on charges of running death squad. For its part, the Interpol issued an international memorandum in May called "red notice" against Hashimi over alleged terrorist acts. "At the request of Iraqi authorities, Interpol has published a red notice for Iraq's Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks in the country," the international police agency said in a statement, stressing that the red notice is not an international arrest warrant. Soon after the US troops fully withdrew from Iraq late last year, Iraq plunged into serious political row as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought to arrest his political rival Hashimi, a leading member of the Sunni-backed political bloc of Iraqia, over terror charges.

Iraqi vice-president sentenced to death