|
BAGHDAD – Former bodyguards for Iraq's fugitive vice president testifiedTuesday that they were ordered to kill security officials and plantroadside bombs as a politically charged terror trial against theSunni leader got under way. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who was in Turkey but faced trialin absentia, has denied all charges against him. If convicted, hecould face the death penalty. The case threatens to paralyze Iraq's government by fuelingsimmering Sunni and Kurdish resentments against Shiite PrimeMinister Nouri al-Maliki, who critics claim is monopolizing power.Al-Hashemi is an ardent critic of al-Maliki, whose governmentissued a warrant for the vice president's arrest the day after U.S.troops left Iraq last December. Al-Hashemi has been accused of playing a role in 150 bombings,assassinations and other attacks from 2005 to 2011, according tothe judicial council. The Iraqi government alleges that Sunni deathsquads were largely composed of his bodyguards and other employees. The charges against the vice president span the worst years ofbloodshed that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq asretaliatory sectarian attacks between Sunni and Shiite militantspushed the country to the brink of civil war. He has been in officesince 2006. Tuesday's testimony focused on more recent years, when violenceebbed but insurgents continued to attack security forces and othertargets in a bid to undermine the Iraqi government in the run-up tothe U.S. withdrawal in December. Bodyguard Odai Ghazi Amin, who served in the Iraqi army underSaddam Hussein, said he joined al-Hashemi's staff in 2008 and wasordered by the vice president's son-in-law in 2009 to escortbomb-planting missions on roads across Baghdad. In 2011, Amin said he was told to assassinate an army general and alawyer — orders he tried to avoid by asking for a jobtransfer. But he said he was threatened by the son-in-law, who ranal-Hashemi's office, that he would be killed and his family indanger if he refused the deadly missions. Last September, Amin testified, he was summoned to meet with thevice president. "Al-Hashemi told me that he is going to assign me to kill someofficers who work against the interests of the state and to carryout operations on security checkpoints," Amin said. Amin testified that after the meeting, al-Hashemi's son-in-lawAhmed Qahtan, who also faces terror charges, gave him and two otherbodyguards silenced guns and told them to assassinate army Brig.Gen. Talib Balaasim. The bodyguards tracked down Balaasim inwestern Baghdad, and Amin testified that he killed the general, ina Sept. 26 drive-by shooting before returning to al-Hashemi'soffice in the heavily guarded Green Zone. "About two days after the attack, al-Hashemi received us (in hisoffice) and said to us, 'God bless your efforts,'" Amin testified.He said the bodyguards shared a $3,000 payment. Amin's account was later contradicted by testimony from anotherbodyguard, Yassir Saadi Hassoun. Hassoun said he and his brotheropened fire on Balaasim, not Amin. A third bodyguard, Ahmed al-Jubouri, described a November 2011shooting that killed national security official Ibrahim Saleh Mahdiand his wife. Al-Jubouri said Mahdi was ordered killed because hehad become "a source of annoyance" to al-Hashemi. Al-Hashemi is in Turkey, where he has said he is receiving medicaltreatment. His spokesman, Fahad al-Turki, said al-Hashemi was notavailable to comment on Tuesday's proceedings. Ahmed Qahtan also isin Turkey. He has hotly denied the charges, and accuses the government oftorturing his bodyguards to obtain confessions from them. The Iraqijudiciary last month investigated and dismissed his claims. The vice president believes he will not get a fair trial inBaghdad's criminal court, and has asked that the case be heard by aspecial tribunal appointed by parliament. His allies see the trial as another political power battle in Iraq. "As far as I'm concerned, the issue of al-Hashemi is more politicalthan a legal one," said Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq of theIraqiya political bloc that opposes al-Maliki. Al-Hashemi's trial has also strained relations between Iraq andseveral of its mainly Sunni neighbors, including the Gulf statesand Turkey. Earlier this month, Interpol issued a so-called "red notice" onal-Hashemi, which puts member countries on alert that he is wantedfor arrest in Baghdad. But Turkey, which has provided sanctuary toal-Hashemi and is on tense terms with his opponents in the Iraqigovernment, is hesitant to pursue the Sunni vice president. The trial was scheduled to resume on Sunday. Underscoring the continued violence in Iraq, a suicide bomber drovean explosives-rigged fuel truck into the front gate of an army postin the northern city of Mosul, a former al-Qaida stronghold,wounding 15 people, authorities said. ___ Associated Press writers Lara Jakes and Sameer N. Yacoubcontributed to this report. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China E27 Led Light Bulbs , Dimmable E27 Led Bulb Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Indoor Led Light Bulbs today!
Related Articles -
China E27 Led Light Bulbs, Dimmable E27 Led Bulb Manufacturer,
|
