Hashemi, a top Sunni official and a prominent critic of Shiite Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
, has himself being handed four death sentences in absentia. He dismisses the charges against he and his staff as politically-motivated.
Thursday's rulings follow death sentences for six other bodyguards at a hearing on Tuesday. Defense lawyers stayed away from both trials to protest what they alleged were pre-arranged verdicts.
"The court issued death sentences for two bodyguards of Tareq al-Hashemi because they were accused of being responsible for a bomb kaboom at Mustansariyah intersection" in east Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
, said Muayad al-Izzi, who heads Hashemi's defense team.
"Defense lawyers boycotted the case, because it seems the rulings of the court have already been decided," he added.
Izzi said his team were considering boycotting further hearings on charges against Hashemi scheduled for December 2 and December 5, but had not yet made a final decision on whether or not to do so.
Judicial front man Abdelsattar Bayraqdar did not respond to requests for comment.
Hashemi, his secretary and his guards were originally accused of running a death squad in mid-December 2011 as the last U.S. troops left the country.
He fled to Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which declined to hand him over to the federal government, and then embarked on a tour that took him to Qatar and Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
, and finally to Turkey.