France-based Interpol has called for help in arresting Iraqi vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi, who has been accused of funding terrorist attacks in Iraq.

“At the request of Iraqi authorities, Interpol has published a red notice for vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks in the country,” Interpol said in a statement.

The red notice arrest alert is short of an actual international arrest warrant. Instead, the global police body has called on the 190 member states to help locate Al-Hashemi and bring him to justice.

Al-Hashemi is said to be hiding in Istanbul, Turkey. He refuses to return to Baghdad where his court case is currently taking place in absentia, claiming that he fears for his life.

The Iraqi government issued an arrest warrant for the vice-president in December 2011. Al-Hashemi fled to the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq as a result. The Kurdish authorities refused to hand him over to Iraqi authorities and allowed him to travel to Qatar, then to Saudi Arabia in March.