Iraqi VP Hashemi's trial resumes

The trial of Iraqi vice president Tareq al-Hashemi is to be resumed on Thursday after being postponed following an appeal of the defence team that the trial was not in the criminal court's jurisdiction. Hashemi, whose trial was originally due to have started on May 3, and his bodyguards face around 150 charges related to running a death squad, and the vice president is now the subject of an Interpol red notice calling for his arrest. Judicial spokesperson Abdel-Sattar Bayraqdar said the general prosecutor was to submit the indictment to the High Criminal Court including accusations of killing of a top official in the national security ministry, another official in the interior ministry and a lawyer. Hashemi is said to have run a death squad with his bodyguards, allegedly carrying out a campaign of political assassinations and bombings at the height of Iraq's insurgency. The vice president denies all the charges, which he says are politically motivated. He also says his life would be in danger if he returned to Iraq. Hashemi commended Turkey's support for him, announcing his intention to stay there until the political crisis was settled. Hashemi is Iraq's most senior Sunni political figure, and an opponent of  prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.  The charges against Hashemi were first levelled in December after US troops completed their withdrawal, sparking a political crisis that saw the Sunni Arab vice president’s bloc boycott the cabinet and parliament over accusations Maliki was monopolising power. Hashemi and his political allies have slammed the charges as targeting their Sunni Arab-backed Iraqiya bloc, which won the most seats in March 2010 parliamentary elections but was outmaneuvered for the premiership by Maliki’s alliance. After the initial charges were filed, the vice president fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, whose authorities declined to hand him over to the central government. They then allowed him to leave on a tour of the region that has taken him to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Turkey. Turkish deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday that Ankara “will not extradite” Hashemi, whom he described as “someone whom we have supported since the very beginning.” Bozdag’s comments came a day after Interpol issued its Red Notice for Hashemi’s arrest on suspicion of “guiding and financing terrorist attacks”. The move effectively puts Hashemi on Interpol's most wanted list. Interpol's secretary-general, Ronald K Noble, said Hashemi's ability to travel across international borders would now be "significantly restricted".