Iraqi PM urges Kurds to hand over VP al-Hashemi

The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called on the autonomous Kurdish region to hand over Iraq's Sunni Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi. An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Hashemi on Monday over terror charges. Tariq al-Hashemi is Iraq's most senior Sunni Arab politician. He says the allegations are "fabricated". Mr Hashemi is currently in the region of northern Iraq controlled by Kurdish authorities. The warrant was issued a day after US troops pulled out. The US Vice-President Joe Biden has urged Iraqi leaders to work together to avert renewed sectarian strife. In a news conference broadcast live on Iraqi television, Mr Maliki, a Shia, said he would dismiss ministers belonging to the main Sunni political grouping, Iraqiyya, if they did not lift their boycott of parliament and cabinet. The prime minister offered an invitation to all political factions to hold talks to try to resolve the crisis. But if that did not work out he said that in the future Iraq could have a majority government which any person or bloc would be welcome to join, to "take the country forward in a positive direction". Asked about Mr Hashemi's call for the Arab League to oversee any process against him, Mr Maliki said this was a criminal issue in Iraq. He saw no reason why the Arab League or the United Nations should intervene in an Iraqi criminal case, he said.