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Iraq’s fugitive vice president in Saudi Arabia

05 April 2012 01:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Iraq’s fugitive vice president arrived Wednesday in Saudi Arabia after a four-day official visit to neighboring Qatar, APA reports quoting Associated Press.

Tariq al-Hashemi, the top Sunni official in Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government, is wanted in Iraq on terror charges for allegedly running death squads against Shiite pilgrims, government officials and security forces.

Iraqi authorities issued a warrant his arrest in December, touching off a political crisis in Baghdad and deepening the country’s sectarian divide just days after the U.S. military withdrawal.

Al-Hashemi, who has denied the charges and says they are politically motivated, took refuge in the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq, out of the jurisdiction of the central government in Baghdad.

Earlier this week, he left Iraq for the first time since the allegations were leveled against him. He flew to Qatar and stayed for four days.

Iraq called on Qatar to extradite him so he can stand trial in Baghdad. Doha refused the request.

Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency said al-Hashemi arrived in the kingdom on Wednesday. A Foreign Ministry official said the Iraqi vice president was greeted by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. There were no further details of the meeting.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.