ANKARA, Turkey -- Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on Monday denounced a death sentence against him as politically motivated and issued by a "kangaroo court." He said he would not return to Iraq from Turkey within 30 days as demanded.

The politically-charged case sparked a crisis in Iraq's government and has fueled Sunni Muslim and Kurdish resentment against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite who critics say is monopolizing power.

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"Yesterday Prime Minister Maliki and his ... judiciary concluded the final phase of the theatrical campaign against me using a kangaroo court set up for this purpose. It was really a shambles," Hashemi told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara.

"Therefore, while reconfirming my and my guards' absolute innocence, I totally reject and will never recognize the unfair, the unjust, the politically motivated verdict," he said.

Sectarian divide
Al-Hashemi, a Sunni, had accused al-Maliki's government of controlling the judiciary and of orchestrating a crackdown on Sunni opponents. He had refused to appear in a court he dismissed as biased.

Al-Hashemi and his son-in-law were both found guilty in absentia of murdering a female lawyer and security official, Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, a judiciary spokesman said.

The trial, which began last spring, featured testimony from the vice president's former bodyguards, who said they were ordered, and then paid, to launch the attacks. Government forces who found weapons when they raided al-Hashemi's house and that of his son-in-law also testified in the case, as did relatives of the victims.

Iraq's government has accused al-Hashemi of playing a role in 150 bombings, assassinations and other attacks from 2005 to 2011 -- most of which were allegedly carried out by his bodyguards and other employees. Most of the attacks the government claims al-Hashemi was behind targeted the vice president's political foes, as well as government officials, security forces and Shiite pilgrims.

The charges against the vice president span the worst years of bloodshed that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, when sectarian attacks between Sunni and Shiite militants pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

Death toll in Iraq tops 100 as fugitive VP gets death sentence

Al-Hashemi has claimed that his bodyguards were likely tortured or otherwise coerced into testifying against him.

"This is a political decision. All our respect to the Iraqi judicial system, but this was political," said lawmaker Jaber al-Jaberi, a member of Hashemi's Sunni-backed Iraqiya party.

Strengthening al-Maliki's hand
Iraqi political analyst Hadi Jalo said the verdict against al-Hashemi will help the embattled prime minster.

"With this verdict al-Maliki will be stronger as it will strengthen his hands," Jalo said. "The verdict, the most important since the trial of the Saddam Hussein who was hanged in 2006 with al-Maliki in office, will serve as a message to all that the government will not tolerate" misdeeds, he said.

Hours before the sentence was announced on Sunday, a wave of bombings and shootings had already killed dozens of people and a car bomb had exploded outside a French consular office in Nassiriya in southern Iraq.

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Since the last U.S. troops left, al-Maliki's Shiite-led government has been politically deadlocked and insurgents have continued to strike, apparently hoping to ignite the kind of sectarian tensions that drove Iraq close to civil war in 2006-2007.

After the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and the rise to power of Iraq's Shiite majority, many Iraqi Sunnis feel they have been sidelined.

Sunni politicians say al-Maliki is failing to live up to agreements to share power among the parties, a charge his backers dismiss, pointing to Sunnis in key posts.

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When the al-Hashemi charges were announced, his Iraqiya party attempted a short-lived boycott of parliament and the Cabinet. But the party has since splintered further, strengthening the political hand of al-Maliki’s Shiite coalition.

Heightened political tension is often accompanied by a surge in violence as Sunni Islamist insurgents try to capitalize on instability to strike at the government, local security forces and Shiite religious targets.

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Major coordinated attacks continue
Violence in Iraq has eased since the dark days of sectarian slaughter that erupted after the 2003 invasion. But insurgents are still carrying out at least one major coordinated attack a month.

Infighting in the religiously mixed government, and a resurgence of a local al-Qaida wing, are raising fears of a return to wider violence, especially as Iraq is struggling to contain spillover from Syria's crisis over the border.

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Iraq's local al-Qaida affiliate, Islamic State of Iraq, has claimed responsibility for major attacks on security forces and Shiite neighborhoods. Former members of Saddam's outlawed Baathist party and other Sunni Islamist groups are also fighting the government.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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BAGHDAD - An Iraqi regulatory body has ordered the closure of 44 media outlets in the country including the BBC and Voice of America in a dispute over broadcast licenses, sources with knowledge of the order said on Sunday. However, no action was immediately taken.

Other organizations targeted for shutdown include privately-owned local TV channels Sharqiya and Baghdadia as well as U.S.-financed Radio Sawa.

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A senior source at the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), the body responsible for the order, said the move had nothing to do with the way the outlets had reported on sectarian conflict in the country, as some reports have suggested.

"The CMC sent such a letter warning them that they're going to shut down their services because they didn't pay (their license fees)," a senior source at the CMC told Reuters.

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The regulator had passed its order to the Baghdad operations command, the source added, referring to the local law enforcement forces who would carry out the closures.

"This is totally wrong and unwise as it comes at a time when the country is plunged into political uncertainty," Ziyad al-Aajely, head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, said.

"What we are confident of is that the decision was not political, but its negative implications will definitely have political implications on the government and harm the reputation of Iraq as a free country," he added.

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In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he called the move "a government message to the media outlets that if you are not with us, then you are against us."

'Technicalities'
The BBC said it was negotiating the renewal of its license with the Iraqi authorities.

"The delay is due to technicalities," it said in a statement. "The BBC's journalists in Baghdad are not currently experiencing any issues reporting from the country, and it is important that the BBC and other international news organizations are able to operate freely and bring independent and impartial news to audiences in Iraq and the wider region."

Saddam regime's fugitive 'king of clubs' appears in new video?

Some of the outlets on the list no longer operate bureaux in Iraq.

However, Radio Sawa, the U.S.-funded station operated by Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., told The Associated Press that it does have a license despite being on the shutdown list.

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"We were surprised to see our radio station on the list because we think that we work in accordance with all Iraqi laws," Sawa deputy director Salah Nasrawi said according to the AP. He added that "bureaucracy and the delays in the government offices might be behind this."

Iraq's main political factions have been locked in a crisis since December, with opponents of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accusing the Shiite leader of trying to consolidate power at their expense.

Maliki is trying to fend off attempts by Sunni, Kurd and some Shiite rivals to organize a vote of no-confidence against him.

Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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BAGHDAD -- A video posted online Saturday purports to show the highest-ranking fugitive member of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime lashing out against Iraq's Shiite-led government.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the video or determine when it was made.

The man in the video, which was posted on a website linked to Saddam's now-outlawed Baath party, was introduced as Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. He bore a striking physical resemblance to the former Saddam deputy. He noted that nine years had passed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, suggesting the video was made recently.

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The man resembling al-Douri sat in a Saddam-era uniform in front of the old Iraqi flag, flanked by a group of bodyguards, just as he did when delivering speeches in the past.

Al-Douri was the deputy head of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council under Saddam, a Sunni who was toppled after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He took over the Baath Party leadership after Saddam was executed in 2006.

'Sounds of danger'
The man criticized Iraq's Shiite-dominated government, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and what he said was meddling by neighboring Shiite powerhouse Iran.

"Everyone can hear the sounds of danger echoing daily and threatening this country," he said during the hour-long address, adding that al-Maliki's Dawa Party "has announced Iraq as the Shiite capital, and called on all Arab leaders to surrender to this reality."

Al-Douri has been reported dead or captured more than once in the past. He has not been seen in public since the U.S.-led invasion, though audio tapes purporting to be from him have been released. His whereabouts are not known.

Archival video from 2005: Saddam top deputy al-Izzat dead?

Al-Douri is believed to have played a key role in financing Sunni insurgents seeking to undermine Iraq's post-Saddam government.

$10 million reward
After the invasion, al-Douri was ranked sixth on the U.S. military's list of 55 most wanted Iraqis and a $10 million reward was offered for his capture. He was the "king of clubs" in the deck of playing cards issued by the U.S. to help troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam's regime.

Baathists were banned from politics after the 2003 invasion, but the government says many former party members have organized into insurgent groups resisting the rise to power of the Shiite majority following the fall of Saddam.

Maliki ordered the arrest of hundreds of former Baathists last year just before the last American troops left the country, causing a crisis that threatened to unravel a fragile power-sharing deal among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish blocs.

Ali al-Moussawi, a media adviser for al-Maliki, said the tape is meant to "boost the morale of the terrorists."

"Al-Douri wants to spread terrorism and sectarian violence under the pretext of resistance," he said. "This will not affect the work of the government or the political process."

Al-Moussawi said al-Douri is still a wanted man, but that he doubts that al-Douri is still in Iraq because his need for extensive medical care in a well-equipped clinic would make it impossible to hide.

Wax museum spurs sticky situation in Iraq

Meanwhile, a bomb hidden in a plastic bag blew up on a minibus, killing two passengers and wounding nine in Baghdad's commercial heart of Karrada on Saturday, according to police and hospital officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Deadly attacks have declined in Iraq in recent weeks, but dozens are still killed every month. March saw the lowest monthly toll for violent deaths since the 2003 U.S.-invasion.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

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Story updated 12pm ET/9am PT: President Obama welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to the White House Monday. Sitting side by side in the Oval Office, the two leaders posed briefly for cameras but did not make statements. They will hold a news conference together later.

Story published 6.30am ET/3.30am PT:

WASHINGTON - With the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq in its final days, President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will meet at the White House Monday to discuss the next phase of the relationship between their countries.

They will have plenty to discuss.

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The withdrawal of all American troops on Dec. 31 marks the end of a nearly nine-year war that has been deeply divisive in both the U.S. and Iraq. While Obama and al-Maliki have pledged to maintain strong ties, the contours of the partnership between Washington and Baghdad remain murky, especially with Iran eager to assert influence over neighboring Iraq. And serious questions remain about Iraq's capacity to stabilize both its politics and security.

Yet the end of the war still marks a promise kept for Obama, one the White House is eager to promote. In addition to his meeting with al-Maliki, Obama will mark the milestone Wednesday when he speaks to troops at North Carolina's Fort Bragg. And he thanked service members and their families for their sacrifices when he attended the annual Army-Navy football game Saturday.

As of late last week, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq had dwindled to about 8,000, down from 170,000 at the war's peak in 2007.

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Monday's meeting between Obama and al-Maliki is expected to focus heavily on how the U.S. and Iraq will continue to cooperate on security issues without the presence of American troops. Iraqi leaders have said they want U.S. military training help for their security forces but have been unable to agree on what type of help they'd like or what protections they would be willing to give American trainers.

The White House said Obama and al-Maliki would also discuss cooperation on energy, trade and education.

Obama and al-Maliki will also hold a joint news conference at the White House, then lay wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery, where some of the nearly 4,500 Americans killed in the Iraq war are buried.

 

Iranian influence could grow
Looming over the talks are concerns among U.S. officials over how Iraq's relationship with Iran will develop with a significantly smaller U.S. presence in the region.

Al-Maliki has insisted that Iraq will chart its future according to its own national interests, not the dictates of Iran or any other country. But some U.S. officials have suggested that Iranian influence in Iraq would inevitably grow once American troops depart. Both countries have Shiite majorities and are dominated by Shiite political groups. Many Iraqi politicians spent time in exile in Iran during Saddam's repressive regime, and one of al-Maliki's main allies — anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — is believed to spend most of his time in Iran.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said how Baghdad chooses to orient itself will significantly influence the future of Iraq's relationship with the U.S.

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"A lot of this really comes down to, what kind of role is Iraq going to play in regional security?" Alterman said. "Is it going to be a place where bad people come and go, or is it going to play a role in calming down a region that needs some calming down?"

The first hints as to how Iraq will assert itself in the region may come from how it handles the troubles in Syria, where a bloody government crackdown on protesters has killed more than 4,000 people, according to the United Nations.

The Obama administration has called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. But Iraq has been much more circumspect, with al-Maliki warning of civil war if Assad falls and abstaining from Arab League votes suspending Syria's membership and imposing sanctions. Those positions align Iraq more closely with Iran, a key Syrian ally.

The U.S. has warned Iraq's neighbors that even though American troops are leaving, the U.S. will maintain a significant presence there. About 16,000 people are working at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, making it America's largest mission in the world.

Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.

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