Iraq VP says death sentence is 'politically motivated'

Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi today denounced the death sentence against him as politically motivated and issued by a "kangaroo court". He said he would not return to Iraq from Turkey within 30 days as demanded. Hashemi urged Iraqis to oppose Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki, who he accused of stoking sectarian tensions, a day after a Baghdad court sentenced him to death in absentia.