An Iraqi judicial panel has concluded that Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi was guilty of running death squads that targeted Shiite pilgrims as well as government and security officials for years, a spokesman for Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council said Thursday.
The spokesman, Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar, said the judicial panel found at least 150 cases in which Hashemi and his associates were linked to attacks on security targets and Shiite pilgrims, including roadside bombings and assassinations, from 2005 to 2011.
Bayrkdar said the attacks carried out by the death squads run by Hashemi included the bombing of the government's Integrity Commission headquarters that killed 25 people last December and the assassination of a deputy education minister in 2010. He, however, did not offer any evidence to support the panel's conclusions, which are not legally binding.
The nine-member judicial inquiry was set up by the the Supreme Judicial Council after the government issued an arrest warrant against Hashemi on terrorism charges last year. Hashemi is a senior leader of the the secular but Sunni-dominated Iraqiya party headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
Hashemi has denied the charges. The Iraqi government claims that three suspects, identified as Hashemi's bodyguards, have linked the Vice-President to killings and attacks on several Iraqi government and security officials. Further, the Iraqi state television aired footage of what it claimed were confessions of the three suspects linking Hashemi to the crimes.
Hashemi is currently hiding in the northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which has its own government and security forces. Despite repeated requests by the Iraqi government to hand him over, the Kurdistan government is yet to comply. Further, Hashemi has refused to stand trial in Baghdad.
Soon after the Iraqi government issued the arrest warrant against Hashemi on terrorism charges on December 19, the Iraqiya-led coalition and other Sunni parties boycotted the parliament and the cabinet. They claim the charges against Hashemi were politically motivated and accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite politician, of monopolizing power by retaining key posts in the coalition government for his Shiite bloc.
The warrant for Hashemi had evoked fears that it may trigger fresh sectarian violence in the divided country after the recent withdrawal of American forces. Analysts also fear that it might derail the country's delicate power-sharing agreement. However, the Sunni lawmakers have since ended their boycott, raising hopes that the crisis might be resolved soon.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.