Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who faces trial in absentia in Baghdad on charges of running a death squad, has undergone "routine" medical checks in Turkey, his office said on Friday.

Hashemi, who is the subject of a Red Notice issued by the international police agency Interpol, travelled from Istanbul to Ankara on Thursday for treatment at a military hospital, Turkey's private NTV television said.

The Turkish foreign ministry confirmed the fugitive official was in Ankara but declined to comment on the reason for the visit.

"Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi had routine medical checks and results were normal," a statement posted on his official website said. It said he was in contact with Iraqi political leaders but gave no further details on the checks.

Hashemi, one of Iraq's top Sunni Arab officials who has been in Turkey since April 9, faces prosecution in Baghdad at a trial that is due to begin on May 15 after two delays.

Hashemi and his bodyguards face around 150 charges, including the killing of six judges and other senior officials, according to an Iraqi judicial spokesman.

He has challenged the legitimacy of the trial and said his life is at risk in Baghdad.

Turkey said it would not extradite Hashemi back to Baghdad for prosecution. "We will not extradite someone whom we have supported since the very beginning," its deputy prime minister, Bekir Bozdag, said on Wednesday.

Iraq's Kurds fire back in dispute with Iran over Mossad
Arbil, Iraq (AFP) May 12, 2012 - The government of Iraq's Kurdish region fired back on Saturday over allegations by Iranian diplomats and officials that Kurdistan was playing host to Israeli intelligence.

Kurdish authorities described the claims, made in previous weeks, as "untrue", after Iran's consul in regional capital Arbil said Israeli spies were using Kurdistan as a base to work against neighbouring Iran.

"This is not the first time that Iranian officials are saying this without presenting evidence or reasons," the Kurdish regional government said in a statement.

"The government is not able to be quiet faced with these accusations anymore, so we confirm to the public there are no centres or offices of Israel in Kurdistan, and we deny this accusation."

The statement continued: "It is untrue."

"This is an attempt to draw Kurdistan into the fight between Israel and Iran, and we do not want to be part of this," it said.

On May 5, Tehran's consul in Arbil, Azim Hosseini, said Iran's security agencies had found evidence that "Israelis are in Kurdistan, and they are working against Iran."

"Israelis are working under different passports and names and banners," he told Safil, a Kurdish weekly published in Arbil.

And on April 21, Iranian MP Esmaeel Kosari told Al-Alam, an Iran-based Arabic-language news channel, that Kurdistan and Azerbaijan "should know that the presence of the Zionist regime on their soil will be harmful to them."

"The neighbouring nations should not allow this regime to have any activities against Iran."

Iraq has no relations with Israel, and the country was an implacable foe of the Jewish state under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, who was overthrown by the US-led invasion in 2003.

Kurdistan does have a warmer history with Israel, however. Many of the current crop of Kurdish leaders have visited the Jewish state in past decades.

Jews lived in Kurdistan for centuries, working as traders, farmers and artisans.

But the creation of Israel and the rise of Arab nationalism in the mid-20th century dramatically altered the situation, spurring most of Kurdistan's Jews to leave.