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March 17th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Press TV has interviewed Muwaffak al-Rubaie, a former Iraqi security advisor in Baghdad, who clarifies the case in terms of its judicial and political aspects and discusses how Iraq intends to handle the case moving forward, warning against foreign interference. What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: You are a former security advisor to the Iraqi government. How solid and serious are the charges against al-Hashemi?
Al-Rubaie: There is mounting evidence that former Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi is involved in one way or another in terrorist activities in the country in the years 2006, 07, and 08.
This is a judicial issue; there is no politics in this. If you are a commander in chief like the prime minister and you have several people confessing to you, clear confession, and clear evidence been produced against Tareq al-Hashemi, you have to act. And this is exactly what the prime minister and commander in chief has done. He has acted according to the legal system in Iraq.
The people are talking about political motives. This can be said against any legal action. Suppose hypothetically if the prime minister and commander in chief does not do anything and he has overwhelming evidence in his hands, he would be accused of negligence and collaborating with him (al-Hashemi). So, he acted according to the Iraqi law and the Iraqi constitution.
Now, if I were Tareq al-Hashemi and if I were 100% sure that I’m innocent and these evidences are “falsified and fabricated” against me, I would have come to Baghdad and stand trial and embarrass the government and embarrass the legal system that he’s accusing.
But I believe there is some evidence he probably could not defend. In the view of President Barzani and his view that he expressed yesterday in the meeting, I believe that President Barzani is acting expectedly because this is a moral issue for him.
This is not only a legal or political issue. It’s somebody in our system, in our tribal system, in our Iraqi moral values and ethics who should not hand over somebody who comes to seek refuge in your house.
But Iraq is one state, one country, and I believe if Tareq al-Hashemi is tried in Baghdad in absentia and either he will be found guilty or innocent. If he is guilty then I believe that the Kurdistan regional authority will hand him over. But until then, they are probably keeping him protected in the region – that’s the best way I can put it.
Press TV: Don’t you think, as time has gone by, the case against al-Hashemi is going to grow stronger, given the fact that at least the only statement coming from him is that “I’d like to be tried in a court”… not in Baghdad obviously?
So, how is that going to be viewed based on the case made against him, based on the allegations leveled against him?
Al-Rubaie: I’m sorry you were not clear in your communication.
Press TV: The allegations were made a number of months ago – at this point it’s been about 3 or 4 months. Don’t you think as time goes on, the inaction by al-Hashemi is going to prove his case to be stronger against him from the Iraqi government?
al-Rubaie: If I understood you correctly, I believe, during the last few years, there were a lot of illegal things that happened by some officials and by people not in the government and by people in the security and outside the security.
What I’m saying is that the government of Iraq has not taken these to the legal system, to the judicial system, because we believe and we still believe in what we call transitional justice whereby we thought in the previous years 2006, 07 and 08 and even 09, to take action and legal action against people like Tareq al-Hashemi will backfire on the government and will backfire on the whole political process and probably will jeopardize the whole political process.
So we thought well OK let’s leave this evidence for future reference and when the time is right, then we will take the proper action. So people should not blame the prime minister [for] why he has postponed legal action against Tareq al-Hashemi because of the transitional action, transitional justice.
Press TV: Leaked information from certain sources quoting Saudi intelligence has said that Saudi Arabia had planned to assassinate Tareq al-Hashemi for fears of revealing secrets of his cooperation with them in terms of embracing and having power in Iraq. What secrets could Saudi Arabia be afraid of?
Al-Rubaie: I don’t want to discuss what other foreign countries or other neighboring countries are talking about. This is purely an internal issue. My advice to the regional countries, to our neighbors, to our brothers in the region and further… my advice to them is not to interfere in our internal affairs.
This is a purely internal issue. This is an issue, which is a purely legal, judicial issue and if I were them, I would leave it to the Iraqis to sort it out.
We have proved recently that we are very robust now. Our political process is very robust because we got out of this, what is called political crisis, and the Iraqia parliamentary bloc came back to the council of representatives and council of ministers and the cabinet. And they are participating and taking active part in the political process and in the government.
So, I don’t allow myself to interfere in other people’s business, in other country’s business and my advice to them is to keep away from our business. This is Iraqi business. This is what we have proven before, that we were capable of overcoming and moving on, so I believe they should keep away from our business, honestly.
Press TV: If you had to give a message to Turkey and to the US in terms of any type of influence or interference if you want to call it in terms of this issue, what message would it be?
Al-Rubaie: I think for Turkey, if they allow us to interfere in their business then we have a lot to say and a lot to do. But we would not allow ourselves to interfere in their business and we would not allow them to intervene in our business. So, I would say keep away; hands off; leave us alone.
We want to retrieve to our own corner and rediscover ourselves, this is Iraqi nationalism, this is a new Iraq and this is Iraq in action. We want to build our country politically, security[-wise] and economically. We want it to be like another regional superpower in the region like Iran, like Saudi Arabia, like Turkey, and we want it to be in the region as a stabilizing factor, not a destabilizing factor.
For the USA, the message is very, very clear and that is that they have left the country, we want a strategic alliance with the US, we need their economic help, we need their financial help to rebuild to the country, to reconstruct the country and to help us in moving Iraq forward, not to interfere in our internal affairs.
This is a purely judicial system and I honestly believe that the USA is a country where the constitution and the law and order and the legal system are very well respected. They should respect our system as well. This is a judicial system… Iraq has incriminated a high ranking Iraqi official, he was in the position of vice president; and I would say to keep away from it. Leave it to us, we will sort it out. We will sort it out in a very legal way and an amicable way as well. I would like to assure our friends in the USA to rest assured that there is no political or sectarian motive behind this.
Press TV: How much do you give in terms of time for the Iraqi government to pursue this further and how much pressure are they going to exert on the Barzani government if Tareq al-Hasemi doesn’t come back to Baghdad to face trial. How do you see this panning out?
Al-Rubaie: The way it’s going to pan out… and the process has already been started. His file has moved from the investigation with all the evidence and the confession and moved to the court – to the Iraqi court system.
In a very short period of time probably, he will be tried probably in absentia according to the Iraqi law. Once this has happened, he is either innocent or incriminated, then he will be sentenced accordingly, according to the Iraqi law.
In that way the Iraqi court and Iraq is one country and any sentence from any court is a rule of law and I believe KRG is a government of the rule of law. I’m sure they will come into agreement with the Federal government on the handing over of Tareq al-Hashemi one way or another.
But as I said at the beginning, and I would like to appeal to Tareq al-Hashemi personally, that if he is 100% percent sure, as he said in his press briefing, and his presentation, that he is innocent, my personal advice to him is to come to Baghdad, pick up the phone, call the prime minister, come to Baghdad, stand in front of the judge, defend himself with all his witnesses, with all his evidence to defend himself.
I can tell you this is going to be to his own benefit if he is innocent. And this will push even his popularity if he is innocent.
SC/HJL
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