Iraq Bank raiders to be hanged

IRAQ

An Iraqi court has sentenced to death four security force members found guilty of taking part in a bank robbery in which eight guards were killed. Gunmen stormed the state-owned Rafidin bank in July and made off with about $5m (£3m) worth of Iraqi dinars.

The guards at the bank in the Karrada district of Baghdad were found bound, gagged and shot in a basement, reports at the time of the raid said. Two former bodyguards of Iraq’s vice-president were among the accused. Adel Abdel Mahdi, who belongs to a powerful Shia Muslim political group, has denied any involvement of his party in the crime.

A trail of clues led to the recovery of most of the money at the office of a newspaper owned by Mr Abdel Mahdi, investigators said. The condemned men were named as Ahmad Khalaf, Ali Eidan, Basheer Khalid and Ali Ouda.

Four other people were being tried in absentia, including a captain in the Presidential Guard, Jafar al-Timimi, and his nephew Lt Amin Karim, the alleged masterminds of the raid. Their whereabouts are not known.

Source: GBC NEWS