Arrest warrant threatens Iraqi government

IRAQI SECURITY officials yesterday barred Sunni vice president Tareq al-Hashemi from travelling abroad, risking the collapse of the fragile unity government and communal conflict.

“We received the travel ban order for Hashemi,” stated a senior security official who observed that the document had been issued by five judges investigating allegations that Mr Hashemi was involved in a plot to bomb parliament.

The ban followed the detention of three of his bodyguards only hours after the last US combat troops crossed into Kuwait, closing the frontier gate on the US adventure in Iraq.

A warrant for the arrest of Mr Hashemi has also been issued, reportedly at the instigation of Shia fundamentalist prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. He has asked parliament to vote no confidence in his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlak. Parliament is expected to consider this request on January 3rd.

Both Mr Hashemi and Mr Mutlak are senior figures in the secular Iraqiya bloc, headed by Iyad Allawi, who competed for the premiership with Mr Maliki.

On Saturday, Iraqiya announced it had suspended participation in the deliberations of parliament to protest against Mr Maliki’s management of Iraq’s affairs.

Iraqiya figures serving as ministers in the “national unity” government also handed in their resignations to the bloc’s leaders.

Spokesman Haidar al-Mulla said Iraqiya “is determined to protect the political process from individualism and dictatorship”.

Iraqiya is a secular party which won most seats in the 2010 parliamentary poll but was outmanoeuvred by Mr Maliki, the incumbent, who, thanks to Tehran’s aid, managed to form a government nine months after the election.

Iraqiya, representing the majority of Sunni and secular voters, has expressed opposition to Mr Maliki’s retention of the powerful defence and interior portfolios.

Mr Maliki’s rule is being challenged by both Sunnis and Kurds. Sunni majority provinces Salahuddin and Diyala, angered over the failure of the central government to deliver electricity, jobs, and security, are demanding autonomy. The autonomous Kurdish region has signed oil exploration deals with Exxon Mobil. This move, seen by Baghdad as illegal, challenges Mr Maliki’s resolve to maintain full control over oil resources.