Iraqi vice president gets death sentence on violent day
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Sunni vice president, who has been accused of commanding sectarian death squads that are responsible for hundreds of killings, was sentenced to death in absentia Sunday, hours after a wave of attacks killed more than 50 people across the country.
The sentencing of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, could deepen an already intractable political crisis in Iraq among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, even as a spate of recent attacks has raised questions about the government’s ability to provide security nine months after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Mr. Hashemi and his son-inlaw, Ahmed Qahtan, were found guilty of murdering a lawyer and a security official, a charge small in scope in relation to the other accusations against him. In February, a panel of judges accused Mr. Hashemi of overseeing paramilitary death squads responsible for carrying out more than 150 attacks over six years against
political opponents, security officials and religious pilgrims.
Mr. Hashemi, one of the country’s highest ranking officials, has denied the charges, calling them part of a witch hunt against opponents of Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri alMaliki. Mr. Hashemi was not immediately available for comment.
Given the sentence, Mr. Hashemi, who is in self-imposed exile in Turkey, is unlikely to return to Iraq. Even so, Sunday’s decision could worsen the already frayed relations among the country’s ruling factions. As expected, Sunni leaders reacted angrily to the sentence.
“The whole thing from the beginning was a conspiracy against the Sunnis,” said Sheikh Talal Hussain al-Mutar, the leader of one of Iraq’s main Sunni tribes. “The whole investigation and courts were fake and controlled by the government. This will make the situation in Iraq worse.”
Mr. Maliki’s government has been the target of attacks by the opposition for months. Lawmakers from the Sunni and Kurdish minorities have accused Mr. Maliki, a Shiite, of seeking to monopolize power and have been seeking to force him from office through a vote of no confidence.
The factional infighting has led to political paralysis, raising fears that gaps in the government’s control could once again be filled by insurgents.
The bloodshed Sunday capped a summer of deadly violence in Iraq, signaling a rise in sectarian tensions and the continued potency of al-Qaida in Iraq, which in recent weeks has vowed to reassert control over Sunni regions.
Attacks, including suicide car bombings and militant raids, were reported in at least 10 cities. They were directed primarily against military and law enforcement targets, though civilians were also killed. No one immediately took responsibility for the violence.
The Associated Press reported at least 92 deaths in 13 cities.
In one of the first attacks, insurgents stormed an army outpost just before dawn in Dujail, a town about 35 miles north of Baghdad, officials said. At least 10 soldiers were killed and eight wounded.
At least 15 people were killed in a series of explosions in Kirkuk, about 150 miles north of Baghdad, officials said. In one attack, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside a building where people had gathered to apply for security jobs with the government-run North Oil Co.
“We arrived early this morning to apply for jobs protecting Iraq’s oil,” said Sagban Nuri, 18, who was wounded in the abdomen. “A huge explosion took us by surprise. The bodies of my friends and relatives were blown away in front of my eyes,” he said.