Friday, June 29, 2007

Adnan Dulaimi defends Hashemi

I don't think it helps Hashemi that suspected terrorist Adnan Dulaimi is demanding (from Amman, resistance HQ) a halt to legal proceedings against Hashemi!

Sunni Accordance Front Suspends Role in Gov
Dulaimi: Legal Proceedings Against Culture Minister Hashemi Must Halt

The Sunni Accordance Front will suspend participation in the cabinet until the government halts legal proceedings against one of its leading members, the head of the three-party Sunni coalition, Adnan al-Dulaimi, announced Friday.

"We have suspended our membership in the cabinet until the government puts an end to procedures being taken against Culture Minister Asaad Kamal Hashemi," Dulaimi told Reuters by telephone from Amman where he is on a visit.

"We have told our six ministers not to attend cabinet meetings until the government halts these legal steps."

Iraqi security forces attempted to serve an arrest warrant Monday night against Hashemi, charging him with acts of terrorism.

Two suspected militants reportedly fingered Hashemi as the mastermind of a Feb. 8, 2005, ambush against then-parliamentary candidate Mithal al-Alusi, according to governmental spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. Al-Alusi escaped unscathed but two of his sons were killed in the attack.

"The two who planned and carried out the killings of Mithal al-Alusi's two sons confessed that they took orders from him," al-Dabbagh said Monday.

Yesterday, Mithal al-Alusi accused the US embassy of shielding Hashemi from arrest by not ordering security contractors to allow Iraqi police entrance to the al-Rashid hotel, where Hashemi is rumored to be hiding.

Today, the NY Sun reports Alusi planned to hand deliver a letter to the American Embassy in Baghdad Friday, asking President Bush to order Ambassador Ryan Crocker to assist.

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