Iraqi deputy PM Hussain al-Shahristani condemns visit to Qatar by politician Baghdad accuses of running death squads.\r\n

Iraq was at loggerheads with Kurdistan Monday over the autonomous region's move to stop oil exports and allow Baghdad's fugitive vice president to visit Qatar despite terror charges against him.

Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Monday that Qatar hosting Hashemi, who arrived in the Gulf emirate on Sunday, was "unacceptable" and called on Doha to extradite him, a demand Hashemi said was unconstitutional.

"The state of Qatar receiving a wanted person is an unacceptable act and Qatar should back off from this stance, and return him to Iraq," he said.

Hashemi met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on Monday to discuss "relations between the two brotherly countries and developments in the region," according to Qatari state news agency QNA.

Shahristani said Kurdistan, where Hashemi had been holed up since charges were issued against him in December, had committed a "clear challenge to law and justice" by allowing him to leave the country.

Hashemi, who says the charges against him are politically motivated, was quick to reject Baghdad's demand.

"There has not been a judicial decision against me from any court, and the demand does not respect Article 93 of the constitution, which provides me with immunity," he told AFP.

The accusations were first leveled against Hashemi a day after US forces withdrew from Iraq in December 2011.

The latest rows add to a long list of disputes between Baghdad and Arbil.
Kurdistan wants Kirkuk and a surrounding tract of land to be incorporated into its region, but officials in Baghdad have steadfastly rejected the demand.

That dispute is regarded by diplomats as one of the greatest threats to Iraq's long-term stability.

And last month, Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani hinted at a possible break with Iraq's unity government, complaining that Maliki was monopolizing power and building an army loyal only to him.

The row between Iraq and Kurdistan is the latest sign of worsening ties between the central government and Kurdish authorities in Arbil, with the two sides arguing over disputed territory in north Iraq, dozens of energy contracts awarded by Kurdistan, and Kurdish claims that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is consolidating power.