Iraqi ex-general flees Denmark home -prosecutor
COPENHAGEN, March 17 (Reuters) - A former Iraqi army chief disappeared from his Danish home on Monday, defying a court ruling restricting his movements to prevent him avoiding a possible trial for war crimes, the state prosecutor said on Monday.
"The only thing we know for sure is that he has disappeared. He probably left his flat this morning," state prosecutor Birgitte Vestberg told Reuters.
Nizar al-Khazraji, suspected of crimes against Kurds in the late 1980s, is not allowed to leave Denmark. He has surrendered his passport and is required to report to police three times a week. These restrictions were imposed by a local court on November 19.
Denmark, which borders Germany, is part of the European Union's Schengen treaty which allows for people to move freely without a passport in the region.
Khazraji's family were still at their Soro home, south of Copenhagen and did not know where he was, the prosecutor said.
Khazraji was head of Iraq's armed forces from 1987 to 1990, fled to Jordan in 1995 and four years later applied for political asylum in Denmark.
He was denied asylum as immigration authorities thought it likely he was involved in chemical weapon attacks on Kurds in northern Iraq in the late 1980s. But he was allowed to stay in Denmark under special rules applied to individuals thought to be at serious risk if they return home.