Istanbul ( CNN ) -- Interpol on Tuesday issued a `` red notice '' for Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi , who is suspected of guiding and financing terrorist attacks in the country . The red notice for al-Hashimi `` represents a regional ( and ) international alert to all of Interpol 's 190 member countries to seek their help in locating and arresting him , following the issue of a national arrest warrant by Iraq 's Judicial Investigative Authority as part of an investigation in which security forces seized bombing materials and arrested individuals , '' the international police organization said in a statement . Al-Hashimi has been living in a Turkish government guest house in Istanbul . In recent months , he has lived in Iraq 's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region but has also traveled to Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the invitation of those governments . Al-Hashimi visits Qatar despite travel ban . He said Tuesday he should be presumed innocent . `` Everybody knows that my case is a political case , from beginning to end , and that the charges against me are fabricated , and far from the truth , '' al-Hashimi said in a statement . `` It is now well-known that there are many cases in Iraq , that the provisions were based on confessions extracted under duress . '' Reached by telephone Tuesday in Istanbul , one of al-Hashimi 's aides , Mehmet Bulovali , told CNN , `` This is a warning , not an arrest warrant . '' Iraq 's Shiite , Sunni and Kurdish political leaders have squared off over the December arrest warrant for al-Hashimi , Iraq 's top Sunni political figure . In a January interview with CNN , al-Hashimi accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki , a Shiite , of pushing the country toward a deep sectarian divide . Al-Hashimi predicts return to sectarian violence . In February , Iraq 's top judicial committee accused al-Hashimi 's security detail of carrying out 150 attacks against security forces and civilians from 2005 to 2011 . Al-Hashimi said the nine-judge council was under the control of the Shiite-dominated central government and has denied the charges , calling them `` politically motivated . '' Charges against al-Hashimi appear to be based on the purported confessions of three men , identified as the vice president 's security guards . Iraqi state television aired video of the confessions in December , but CNN has not been able to verify the men 's identities independently . A red notice is not an international arrest warrant , but many Interpol member countries consider the alert to be a valid request for provisional arrest , the agency said . Interpol can not demand that any member country arrest the subject of a red notice . The police organization has been criticized in the past for allowing some nations to use such notices to target political opponents . As an official guest of the Turkish government , al-Hashimi has been granted a meeting with Turkey 's prime minister . In recent months , Recep Tayyip Erdogan has engaged in a war of words with al-Maliki . Officials from the Turkish government were not immediately available for comment on whether Turkey would comply with the red notice . CNN 's Mohammed Tawfeeq , Mohammed Jamjoom , Saad Abedine , Hamdi Alkhshali , Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert contributed to this report .
Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi says charges against him are fabricated . al-Hashimi is wanted by Iraqi authorities on terrorism charges . The U.S. State Department has said it will not comment until the investigation into his death concludes. But many member countries consider the alert to be a valid request for provisional arrest .