BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, the country's highest judicial body, has issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, an interior ministry high- ranking official said Monday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Adel Daham told a press conference that "the judiciary panel (formed by the council) of five judges issued an arrest warrant for the vice president of the Republic."

The spokesman said the warrant was issued based on the Article Four of the country's anti-terrorism law, without giving a timeframe for the implementation.

The Interior Ministry, at the press conference,  presented the confessions of three detained suspects, including two of Hashimi's security guards,  noting that they carried out several terror operations with the knowledge of Hashemi or under his command.

Earlier Monday, the Supreme Judicial Council reportedly banned the vice president from travelling abroad.

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