الرئيسية
QALACHWALAN, Iraq (AP) — The Sunni vice president wanted for
allegedly running a hit squad in Iraq has accused Shiite Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki of waging a campaign against Sunnis and pushing the
country toward sectarian war.
In an interview Friday with The
Associated Press Tariq al-Hashemi said al-Maliki wants to get rid of all
political rivals and run Iraq like a "one-man-show."
The comments
by Iraq's highest level Sunni political figure reflect the mounting
sectarian tensions surrounding the confrontation between him and the
prime minister that have hiked fears Iraq could be thrown into new
violence following the exit of American troops.
The political
crisis taps into the resentments that have remained raw in the country
despite years of effort to overcome them, with minority Sunnis fearing
the Sunni majority is squeezing them out of any political say, and
Shiites suspecting Sunnis of links to insurgency and terrorism.
"He's
pushing the things to a catastrophe. And I'm not sure what's going to
happen after that," al-Hashemi, who denies the accusations, said of the
prime minister.
He spoke to the AP at a guesthouse of Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani in the mountains overlooking the northern
Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of
Baghdad.
Al-Hashemi arrived here on Sunday with a small suitcase
and two suits to discuss the growing conflict with al-Maliki's
government.
But what was supposed to be a two-day trip has
stretched nearly a week after the Iraqi government Monday issued an
arrest against him on what he says are trumped-up charges. He has
refused to go back to Baghdad where he says he cannot get a fair trial.
The central government's security forces do no operate in the northern
autonomous Kurdish zone, so he's safe from arrest here.
The Iraqi
government maintains al-Hashemi orchestrated a campaign of
assassinations carried out by his bodyguards. Earlier this week they
aired televised confessions of the bodyguards detailing how al-Hashemi
gave them money for the hits.
allegedly running a hit squad in Iraq has accused Shiite Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki of waging a campaign against Sunnis and pushing the
country toward sectarian war.
In an interview Friday with The
Associated Press Tariq al-Hashemi said al-Maliki wants to get rid of all
political rivals and run Iraq like a "one-man-show."
The comments
by Iraq's highest level Sunni political figure reflect the mounting
sectarian tensions surrounding the confrontation between him and the
prime minister that have hiked fears Iraq could be thrown into new
violence following the exit of American troops.
The political
crisis taps into the resentments that have remained raw in the country
despite years of effort to overcome them, with minority Sunnis fearing
the Sunni majority is squeezing them out of any political say, and
Shiites suspecting Sunnis of links to insurgency and terrorism.
"He's
pushing the things to a catastrophe. And I'm not sure what's going to
happen after that," al-Hashemi, who denies the accusations, said of the
prime minister.
He spoke to the AP at a guesthouse of Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani in the mountains overlooking the northern
Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of
Baghdad.
Al-Hashemi arrived here on Sunday with a small suitcase
and two suits to discuss the growing conflict with al-Maliki's
government.
But what was supposed to be a two-day trip has
stretched nearly a week after the Iraqi government Monday issued an
arrest against him on what he says are trumped-up charges. He has
refused to go back to Baghdad where he says he cannot get a fair trial.
The central government's security forces do no operate in the northern
autonomous Kurdish zone, so he's safe from arrest here.
The Iraqi
government maintains al-Hashemi orchestrated a campaign of
assassinations carried out by his bodyguards. Earlier this week they
aired televised confessions of the bodyguards detailing how al-Hashemi
gave them money for the hits.