US reportedly seeking safe return of exiled Sunni leaders to Iraq

By Adnan Hussein

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United States has been reportedly trying to pave the return of exiled politician Tariq al-Hashimi and others to Iraq to heal sectarian rifts, but the country’s Shiite and Sunni factions remain at odds over the issue.

During Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s recent visit to Turkey, Turkish officials reportedly asked him to guarantee the safe return of Hashimi, who now lives in Turkey.

Hashimi, a Sunni and former Iraqi vice president, received multiple death penalties on terrorism charges in an absentia trial in December 2011 by the previous Shiite-led government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

By returning Hashmi and the Sunni finance minister Rafia Isawi -- who also fled the country during Maliki’s premiership -- the US government reportedly hopes to bring bickering Sunni and Shiite factions closer together against the Islamic state (ISIS).

Hashimi had insisted that he was innocent and that terrorism charges against him were politically motivated. He escaped to the Kurdistan Region, then to Qatar before settling in Turkey.

Days after the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq, Maliki’s government began arresting prominent Sunni politicians and dissidents under the anti-terrorism and de-Bathification laws, which deepened the sectarian divisions between the Sunni and Shiite factions.

One of the demands of the Sunni factions to join Abadi’s cabinet was to drop the charges against exiled Sunni leaders and allow them to return to Iraq.

Baha Naqshbandi, an official from the Islamic party of Iraq, said that national reconciliation is the only solution for Iraq’s current woes.

“Upon the cabinet formation, we agreed on this issue, but we want practical steps in this regard,” he said, adding that only true reconciliation would guarantee the exiled leaders’ return. 

Naqshbandi said that the cases of Hashimi, isawi, and exiled Sunni MP Ahmed al-Alwani must be resolved.

He added that national reconciliation means more than just talks and meetings. “Abadi must take practical steps this time,” he warned.

However, Maliki’s State of Law coalition insisted that national reconciliation should not be linked to Hashimi’s case.

Lawmaker Mahmood Sayhood form State of Law told Rudaw: “We must differentiate between national reconciliation and Hashimi’s case.”

He said that “national reconciliation is crucial at this stage when Iraq is facing a great threat from ISIS extremists. We need to join all of our visions and efforts.”

“But Hashmi’s case is a legal matter and the Iraqi courts are not bound to political agreements,” he said, “This matter should not be mixed with politics.”

Before the 2014 elections, an Iraqi court dismissed charges against two prominent Sunni officials, Salim and Mashan Jiburi, who were arrested on terrorism charges as well.

Judge Rizgar Amin told Rudaw that, since Hashimi was sentenced in absentia, the court’s verdict is not final.

Rizgar, who was one of the judges in late dictator Saddam Hussein’s trial, said that the location of the trial can be changed upon the defendant’s request.

Hashimi said on his Facebook page that “a fair trial” is his only condition for returning.

“I will return to Iraq if a transparent court decides the charges I have been accused of,” he said.