Arrest warrant for Iraq Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi

An Iraqi judicial committee has issued an arrest warrant for the country's Sunni Arab Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi, security officials have said.

The warrant was issued under anti-terrorism laws, the officials added.
The decision came after Mr Hashemi's bodyguards accused him of links with terrorism, an interior ministry spokesman told the Reuters news agency.
Several of his bodyguards have been arrested. Mr Hashemi was earlier banned from leaving the country.
Interior ministry spokesman Adil Daham confirmed the warrant had been issued at a news conference.
State-run television has reportedly aired what it characterised as confessions by alleged terrorists linked to Mr Hashemi.
The move comes the day after the final US troops withdrew from the country and two days after the al-Iraqiya parliamentary bloc, which represents most of Iraq's Sunni Arab community, withdrew from parliament.
They have accused the Shia Arab Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, of monopolising power.
The President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, earlier called for urgent talks to prevent the "collapse" of the national unity government, warning that "the situation is headed towards deep crisis".