A period of relative quiet continued in Iraq, but so did the meting out of death sentences to fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. The timing of this respite and the Hashemi ruling could be related.

Fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was handed a fourth death sentence in an Iraqi court accused of bias. It is the second time this week the court found Hashemi guilty. The vice president is in exile in Turkey and claims the accusations are politically motivated.

In Mosul, a bomb in the Badush district left two dead, including a civilian. Gunmen killed a policeman and wounded another in the Ghazaliya neighborhood. A policeman was killed in a roadside bombing. A bomb near a Sukker district hair salon wounded three civilians.

A sniper killed a soldier in Falluja.

In Hilla, a soldier was wounded in the head by a sniper’s bullet.

Read more by Margaret Griffis

• Retaliation Against Sunnis Leave 90 Dead, 201 Wounded Across Iraq – May 17th, 2013
• Bombings Continue in Baghdad, Kirkuk; 40 Killed – May 16th, 2013
• Iraq Horror: 42 Killed, 141 Wounded – May 15th, 2013
• Baghdad Liquor Stores Targeted in Ongoing Attacks – May 14th, 2013
• Cleric and Councilman Among 14 Killed in Iraq – May 13th, 2013