Interpol Issues Notice For Fugitive Iraqi Vice President

Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi

Interpol says it has issued an international "red notice" for the arrest of Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi "on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks."

The Lyon-based international police agency said on May 8 that the notice, its highest possible alert, was issued at the request of Iraqi authorities.

Hashimi, who is being tried in absentia in a Baghdad court and was last known to be in Istanbul, has been charged along with several bodyguards with killing six Iraqi judges and senior officials.

He has said the charges against him are politically motivated and that he fears for his life if he goes back to Iraq.

Iraqi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Hashimi in December.

Soon afterwards, Hashimi fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq and then left for Turkey, after stops in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters