Irbil , Iraq ( CNN ) -- Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi has lashed out at Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki , predicting that Iraq could soon return to widespread sectarian violence that could require the return of U.S. forces . `` Al-Maliki is pushing my country to reach a turning point with deeply sectarian dimension , '' the Sunni vice president told CNN on Sunday during an interview in the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north , where he has fled so that government forces loyal to the Shiite prime minister can not execute an arrest warrant for him on charges of running a death squad . He expressed concern that Americans `` will face the same problem as they faced in 2003 , '' when a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq , toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein and unleashing a wave of sectarian violence . And he said he did not understand how U.S. President Barack Obama is able to characterize Iraq as a free , stable and democratic country . `` What sort of Iraq we are talking about ? '' he asked . `` How the Americans will feel proud ? How the American administration is going to justify to the taxpayer the billion of dollars that has been spent and at the end of the day the American saying , 'Sorry , we have no leverage even to put things in order in Iraq ' ? '' Though Iraq 's instability may not affect this year 's election campaign in the United States , `` it is going to affect the American interest in the region , and they should be very much concern about that , '' al-Hashimi said . `` The future of Iraq is grim . '' The arrest warrant for al-Hashimi was issued last year , days after the Sunni majority bloc Iraqiya suspended its participation in Parliament amid that claims it was being cut out of the political process . The bloc ended that boycott on Sunday as a `` gesture of goodwill . '' But a separate boycott of the Cabinet remains in place . Al-Hashimi denied the charges against him as politically motivated . He accused al-Maliki of having `` put my home and my office under siege '' during the three months before he fled to the Dokan resort about 400 km ( 250 miles ) north of Baghdad . `` I kept patient on that , hoping that al-Maliki is going to behave sensibly sometime , and things aggravated , '' al-Hashimi said . Asked whether al-Maliki is becoming a dictator , al-Hashimi was blunt : `` What sort of explanation could I give for a real and serious power consolidation ? '' he asked . `` What could the average Iraqi people or the American citizen ... say for the prime minister to be chief in command , the minister of defense , the minister of interior and the chief of the national security ? '' The charges appear to have been based on the confessions of three security guards for al-Hashimi . Iraqi state-run TV has aired video of the men 's confessions . CNN can not independently verify their identities . An official in al-Hashimi 's office , who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns , has said the men may have confessed under duress . In one confession , a man detailed roadside bombings and shootings that targeted government and security officials in 2009 . He said orders at times came directly from al-Hashimi and at times through his son-in-law , Ahmed Qahtan , who is a senior member of his staff . The man alleged that the vice president thanked him after a number of attacks . The man in the video said al-Hashimi ordered him to map out security locations and checkpoints for the Baghdad Brigade , which protects the Green Zone . He said he was speaking out to `` clear his conscience '' and `` expose this criminal . '' Since October , Iraqi security forces have rounded up hundreds of people accused of being members of Saddam Hussein 's outlawed Baath Party or terrorists . The Sunni-backed Iraqiya coalition says most of them belong to its political bloc and that the prime minister is simply taking out his opponents . The political turmoil in Iraq has raised concerns in Washington , with officials saying they are monitoring the reports about the arrest warrant . `` We are talking to all of the parties . We 've expressed our concern regarding these developments . We 're urging all political sides in Iraq to work out their differences peaceably , politically , through dialogue , and certainly in a manner that is consistent with democratic political processes and international standards of rule of law , '' Victoria Nuland , a spokeswoman for the State Department , said in December . CNN 's Yousuf Basil contributed to this story .
He accuses al - Maliki of ` ` allowing my country to reach a turning point '' The violence could force the withdrawal of U.S. troops , he says . ` ` The future of Iraq is grim , '' he says .