Former Iraqi culture minister sentenced

BAGHDAD, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Former Iraqi Culture Minister Asaad Kamal al-Hashimi is to be executed for his role in the slaying of two sons of another Iraqi politico, a court source said.

Court spokesman Abdul Sattar al-Byraqdar said Saturday that the Central Criminal Court handed down a death sentence in absentia for Asaad Kamal al-Hashimi, who was found guilty of murdering the sons of Umma Party leader Mathal al-Alusi in 2005, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The whereabouts of Hashimi are unknown, Byraqdar said.

Hashimi, a nephew of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi who became culture minister in 2006 and went into hiding last year, could appeal the sentence, which was handed down Wednesday, the official said.

The charges against Hashimi, a Sunni, were cited as a key factor when Sunni members of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet pulled out of the Shiite-dominated government last summer, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, CNN said, Kamel Shiyah, an assistant to the minister of culture, was killed Saturday. Insurgents fired on his vehicle, an Interior Ministry official said.