Fugitive Iraqi vice president sentenced to death
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An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi to death by hanging after a trial on charges he ran death squads, Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, a spokesman for the judiciary council said.
"The high criminal court issued a death sentence by hanging against Tareq al-Hashemi after he was convicted," he said. Hashemi, a Sunni, fled the country earlier this year after authorities sought his arrest. His case sparked a political crisis in the country's power-sharing government amoung Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish political blocs. (AP)
