Iraqi prime minister demands Kurds hand over wanted vice president

Dec 21, 2011, 12:57 GMT

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki on Wednesday asked authorities in the country's northern Kurdish region to hand over wanted Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, following the issuing of an arrest warrant on terrorism charges.

'It is the duty of the Kurdish region to hand over the wanted (vice president) to the judiciary,' al-Malaki told reporters in Baghdad.

He warned that 'failure to do so could lead to problems.'

Al-Hashemi and members of his security staff are accused of being involved in a November 28 bomb attack outside parliament, in which al-Maliki was suspected of being a target.

Iraq's interior ministry, which is effectively run by the prime minister, had issued an arrest warrant against al-Hashemi and several of his security guards on Monday.

Al-Hashemi has dismissed the charges as 'fabricated', saying he is ready to fight them in court.

But he questioned the independence of the judiciary, demanding that the trial be transferred to the Kurdish region and that Arab League members be present.

Al-Malaki refused the request on Wednesday. Kurdistan is a semi-autonomous region that has control over its own security forces.

Iraq's delicate power-sharing system has a Shi'ite prime minister, a Kurdish president and a Sunni speaker of the house. Al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, left for the Kurdish region on Sunday, a day before the arrest warrants were announced. He has also been charged for attacking government officials in the past.

While al-Malaki argues that he is targeting individuals and not Sunnis, some view the latest moves as directly targeting his Sunni political rivals, raising speculation that he may be seeking to consolidate his grip on power as US troops completed their withdrawal this month.