Iraqi Sunni Vice President Accused of Ordering Assassinations
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ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images(BAGHDAD) — Post-U.S. occupied Iraq is already undergoing its first major governmental crisis.
Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi is facing an arrest warrant after being charged with overseeing a death squad that has allegedly assassinated government and security officials.
The Shiite leaders of Iraq said the accusations against al-Hashimi are based on the confessions of three men claiming to have worked for the vice president as bodyguards.
Their “confessions” broadcast on state-run TV allege they both planted and set off bombs in public squares as well as firing on convoys carrying Shiite officials.
One of the men claiming to work for al-Hashimi said he personally received $3,000 from his boss after carrying out an assassination.
Al-Hashimi’s office has denied all the charges despite acknowledging that the men worked for him.
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