Arrest Warrant Issued for Iraqi VP

Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi is now a wanted man for being a conspirator in the recent Parliament bombing after police issued his arrest warrant late Saturday, media reports say.
Arrest Warrant Issued for Iraqi VP
Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi (R) speaks during a joint press conference with former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi in 2010. ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images
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Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi is now a wanted man for being a conspirator in the recent Parliament bombing after police issued his arrest warrant late Saturday, media reports say.

The attack took place on Nov. 28 when a car bomb was left in front of the Parliament building in an attempt to kill an Iraqi lawmaker.

Government officials told Al-Arabiya television that there was enough evidence linking al-Hashimi to the attack after authorities obtained confessions from several Islamic Party members. 

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi have both said they were the intended targets for the bomb attack, according to Al-Jazeera television.

Hashimi is the leader of the Renewal Bloc affiliated with the Al-Iraqiya list. 

On Saturday, the Iraqiya coalition, which is supported by secular Iraqis and Sunni Muslims, decided to boycott Parliament. In a released statement, they said the bloc “can no longer remain silent about the way the state is being administered, as it is plunging the country into the unknown,” reported Al-Jazeera.

The warrant comes just two days after U.S. officials announced the formal end to the eight-yearlong war in Iraq in Baghdad, which received little local fanfare.