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Qalachwalan, Iraq -- The Sunni vice president wanted for allegedly running a hit squad in Iraq on Friday accused Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of waging a campaign against Sunnis and pushing the country toward sectarian war.
In an interview, 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 escalated fears that 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 efforts to overcome them, with minority Sunnis fearing the Shiite majority is squeezing them out of any political influence, and Shiites suspecting Sunnis of links to insurgency and terrorism.
Al-Hashemi, who denies the accusations, spoke at a guesthouse of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the mountains overlooking the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad. He has refused to go back to Baghdad, where he says he cannot get a fair trial. The central government's security forces do not operate in the northern autonomous Kurdish zone, where he's safe from arrest.
The Iraqi government maintains that 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.
Fears that the situation could spiral out of control were heightened by devastating bombings that tore through mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Thursday and killed at least 69 people. Many fear Iraq could eventually fall back into the vicious sectarian bloodshed that reached its height in 2006 and 2007 and nearly threw the country into civil war.
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In an interview, 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 escalated fears that 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 efforts to overcome them, with minority Sunnis fearing the Shiite majority is squeezing them out of any political influence, and Shiites suspecting Sunnis of links to insurgency and terrorism.
Al-Hashemi, who denies the accusations, spoke at a guesthouse of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the mountains overlooking the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad. He has refused to go back to Baghdad, where he says he cannot get a fair trial. The central government's security forces do not operate in the northern autonomous Kurdish zone, where he's safe from arrest.
The Iraqi government maintains that 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.
Fears that the situation could spiral out of control were heightened by devastating bombings that tore through mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Thursday and killed at least 69 people. Many fear Iraq could eventually fall back into the vicious sectarian bloodshed that reached its height in 2006 and 2007 and nearly threw the country into civil war.
Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
