Iraq stops paying the salary of convicted fugitive Sunni vice president
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An Iraqi official says the government has decided to stop paying the salary of the country's fugitive Sunni vice president, a month after he was sentenced to death for terrorism-related crimes.
Iraqi Integrity Commission member Hussein al-Assadi said on Wednesday the government ordered the halt starting immediately. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi was convicted in absentia in September.
Al-Hashemi is one of the nation's highest-ranking Sunni officials. He has denied the terror charges and is in exile in Turkey. A new trial on additional terror charges began last week.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Al-Hashemi was paid a monthly salary of 75 million Iraqi dinars ($60,000). His salary was supposed to have been reduced to about 10 million dinars ($8,500) earlier this year due to budget cuts, but al-Assadi did not know if they'd been enacted.