A court in Iraq has sentenced the fugitive vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi to be hanged after finding him guilty of murder. The case has sparked a crisis in the power-sharing government. From Baghdad, Nahed Abouzeid.
Baghdad's central criminal court condemned Mr Tariq al-Hashemi in
absentia
when it was in proceedings after a break for the Islamic Eid holiday. The victims included a female lawyer and an army intelligence officer. They were all killed in execution-style shootings using guns with silencers and in broad daylight.Mr al-Hashemi refuses to return to Baghdad to
stand trial
, claiming the entire affair as a political ploy to eliminate him from the political equation.
A day of violence across Iraq has left more than 90 people dead and at least 100 others wounded. The worst violence was in the capital Baghdad where mainly Shia suburbs were hit by a series of car bombs. Many the attacks have been
sectarian
.
World News from the BBC
At least ten people have been killed in a car bomb explosion in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Syrian state television showed pictures of destroyed buildings and rescue workers pulling people from the rubble. It's thought that the number of casualties could rise.
The army in Mali says it has shot dead 16 people in the central region of Segou after their vehicle failed to stop at a checkpoint. Mali has been divided in two following a military coup in March with the north controlled by Islamists. Mary Harper reports.