Tariq Al-Hashimi

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Tariq al-Hashimi

Tariq al-Hashimi is an Iraqi politician and the general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic Party. Along with Adil Abdul Mahdi, he is a Vice President of Iraq in the government formed after the December 2005 elections. As a Sunni, he took the place of fellow Sunni politician Ghazi al-Yawar.

Three of his siblings (two brothers and one sister) were killed by Shiite death squads in 2006.

In December 2006, the Iraq Study Group Report described him in this way: "Hashimi is one of two vice presidents of Iraq and the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni Muslim bloc in parliament. Hashimi opposes the formation of autonomous regions and has advocated the distribution of oil revenues based on population, a reversal of de-Baathification, and the removal of Shiite militia fighters from the Iraqi security forces. Shiite death squads have recently killed three of his siblings." The report called Hashimi one of the two Sunni leaders with broad support.[1]

USA Today reported in December 2006 that Hashimi was involved in forming a multi-sectarian alliance to replace the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, with the encouragement of U.S. President George W. Bush, due to Maliki's reliance on Shiite militant Muqtada al-Sadr.[2]

In a recent discussion with Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi (Transcript, Audio, and Video available from Council on Foreign Relations) [3], the vice president differentiated between "what the US is calling an insurgency and what "[the Iraqis] call...resistance. [The second group, not al Qaeda] are very much prepared to contribute and to participate in the political process as long as we offer to them doable, a workable, a significant project to accommodate them."

In the same discussion, Vice President Al-Hashimi stated, "This is a very important issue, and I would like to take this subject very sincerely...the war is not between the Sunni and the American..."

He continued: "The problems is the timetable withdrawal. If you declare that tomorrow, the tension is going to be mitigated not only in the Sunni side, the Shi'a side as well, because everybody cautious, in fact, about the future. The American administration left it vague. They didn't say clearly, in fact. What is the ultimate mission that they are going to fulfill? Nobody knows. How long they are going to stay in Iraq...? As an Iraqi -- I am also vice president -- I would like very much to see that Iraq is free tomorrow, and to assist all those families waiting their sons to receive them back as soon as possible, in fact, and to stop and to put an end for this -- for the tragedy. I be very much on the same side and the same time I would like to see my own national armed force, in fact, to shoulder responsibilities and secure the situation in Iraq."

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