Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi has every reason to be, as he recently said, “worried about the future of [his] country.”

The fugitive Sunni leader, who is now under the protection of Turkey, was sentenced to death in absentia by an Iraqi court for his alleged involvement in multiple murders of political opponents in the Shiite administration in Iraq. Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan refuses to extradite Hashemi to Baghdad because, in his view, “there is no truth in the accusations against him.”

Courcy’s Intelligence Brief of September 19 reports that the deterioration of the relations between Turkey and Iraq has “reached breaking point.” Iraq is not happy about Ankara’s actions, and neither is Iran. Hashemi finds himself at the center of the latest battle for influence in Iraq between Iran and Turkey.

Back in the 2010 Iraqi elections, Turkey supported Sunni Iyad Allawi in opposition to the incumbent, pro-Iranian Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki. Turkey also supports the rebels in Syria fighting pro-Iranian Bashar Assad’s regime.

These differences in ally preferences are showing how the Middle East will be realigned into the groups discussed in Daniel 11 and Psalm 83. For more information, read “A Mysterious Alliance” by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry.