Fugitive Iraqi VP Tariq al-Hashemi leaves for US-backed Qatar

Iraq’s fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi has traveled to Qatar, despite an arrest warrant issued for him by Baghdad.

According to a statement issued by Hashemi’s office, the Iraqi vice president “left the Kurdistan region of Iraq this morning, Sunday, going to Doha in the brother state of Qatar,” AFP reported.

Based on reports, Hashemi had previously received an invitation from Qatar.

Hashemi is scheduled to stay in Qatar for several days and he will meet with US-backed Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, the statement said.

The Iraqi vice president will also visit other countries before returning to the Kurdistan region, the statement added without specifying the names of the countries.

The development comes a few weeks after the Iraqi Interior Ministry said on March 4 Hashemi is likely to flee Iraq from the Kurdistan region.

Hashemi is accused of involvement in bomb attacks against government and security officials over the past years, including a November 2011 car bombing in the capital Baghdad that apparently targeted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

On December 19, 2011, an investigative committee within the Iraqi Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Hashemi after three of his bodyguards confessed to taking orders from him to carry out the terrorist attacks. Hashemi later fled to the Kurdistan region.

Hashemi denies the accusations and has called for the referral of his case to the Kurdistan region, but Iraq’s judiciary has rejected his request.