Iraq council bans Al Hashemi travel

The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council announced on Monday that a decision to ban vice-president Tarek Al Hashemi from travelling, and members of his guards has been issued, on charges related to acts of terrorism, coinciding with unconfirmed information about Hashemi leaving Iraq for Turkey, Monday afternoon via Sulaymaniyah International Airport. “A judicial decision had been issued to tban vice-president Tarek Al Hashemi from travelling, and members of his guards due to issues related to terrorism,” the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council spokesman, Judge Abdul Sattar Bayraktar told ‘Arabstoday’. For her part, the media adviser to the prime minister's office Maryam Rayes confirmed the issuance of the decision and issuance of a judicial arrest warrant according to article No.4 in the Iraqi terrorism law, but the judges gave him a chance to turn himself in.   On another the other hand, Hashemi told ‘Arabstoday’ that he is extremely patient and waiting for reasonable act from the government instead of hasty accusations. He said “what happened on Sunday about interrupting my procession and arresting seven of my guards is escalation from the government, and this is not in favor of the political process in Iraq.” He also called for the release of his guards who were arrested on Sunday. In the same context, the spokesperson of the Iraqiya bloc, to which Hashemi belongs, Mason Dmlogin said these fabricated charges against the Iraqi vice president had never occurred in any country in the world, and aim to distract people from the real issues instead of providing security and employment opportunities for citizens. She added in a statement issued on Monday, copied to ‘Arabstoday’ that the security forces had  some pretexts on Sunday, and today they started to talk about charges, stressing the threats and provocations that Iraqiya bloc is subjected to.