Qatar Refuses To Hand Over Fugitive Iraqi Vice President

Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi is accused of running death squads by Baghdad authorities.

The Sunni-led Gulf kingdom of Qatar has rejected Iraq's request to hand over the nation's fugitive Sunni vice president to face terror charges in Baghdad.

Khaled al-Attiyah, Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs, said Qatar will not extradite Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi because such a move would be contrary to diplomatic norms.

Iraq's Shi'ite-led government accuses Hashimi of running death squads.

Hashimi arrived in Qatar on April 1 from Iraq's semiautonomous region of Kurdistan, where he had sought refuge after the government issued a warrant for his arrest in December.
Qatar Refuses To Hand Over Fugitive Iraqi Vice President

Based on reporting by AP and AFP