“The Red Notice for Al-Hashemi represents a regional an 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,” according to INTERPOL.

Iraq’s VP was to tried in absentia in Baghdad  last thursday, but the trial was adjourned until May 10 as Hashemi and some of his guards were charged last week with killing six judges, as judicial spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar put the overall number of accusations against the group at about 150, according to AFP.

Hashemi had previously offered to be tried  in the city of Kirkuk,northern Iraq, controlled by Sunnis and Kurds but vowed not to return to Baghdad to face the charges because he believes the courts are controlled by the Prime Minister, Maliki.

Iraqi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Hashemi in December after the US completed its pullout and he first sought refuge with Iraqi Kurds who refused to hand him over. He then fled to Turkey, after stops in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Hashemi who was last known to be in Turkey, said in a statement posted on his website early on Tuesday that he was awaiting a “political solution” to the standoff, Al Jazeera reported.

Hashemi said he was planning to return to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on Tuesday but decided to delay his trip after appeals by unnamed political leaders, according to Al Arabiya.

Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said in a statement that the Red Notice would “significantly restrict” Hashemi’s ability to travel and cross international borders.and cross international borders. It is a powerful tool that will help authorities around the world locate and arrest him.

“This case also clearly demonstrates the commitment of Iraqi authorities to work with the world police community via Interpol to apprehend individuals facing serious charges,” he said.

A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. Many of Interpol’s member countries however, consider a Red Notice a valid request for provisional arrest, especially if they are linked to the requesting country via a bilateral extradition treaty. In cases where arrests are made based on a Red Notice, these are made by national police officials in Interpol member countries.

Interpol cannot demand that any member country arrest the subject of a Red Notice, and an individual wanted for arrest should be considered innocent until proven guilty.