Iraq VP Tariq al-Hashemi rejects guilty verdict

Fugitive Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi has rejected a guilty verdict and death sentence passed on him in absentia as “politically motivated”.

In remarks at a press conference in neighbouring Turkey, he launched a stinging attack on the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

On Sunday, an Iraqi court found Hashemi guilty of running death squads.

Hashemi was the most senior Sunni Muslim politician in Iraq and his case has sparked a political crisis.

Hashemi insisted he was innocent of the charges and said he would continue to serve his country.

He said that he would be prepared to face a “fair trial” but that the Iraqi courts were under Mr Maliki’s influence.