ISTANBUL — Iraq’s fugitive vice president said Thursday that former bodyguards who are testifying against him in a terror trial in Baghdad might have been pressured into doing so by security forces.

The trial in absentia of Tariq Al-Hashemi, who is in Turkey, started this week when agents who used to protect him said they were ordered to kill security officials and plant roadside bombs. Al-Hashemi, a Sunni, is accused of supporting death squads whose targets included government officials.

He told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday that he was innocent and a victim of a political vendetta by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, a Shiite. The two have often sparred over the years in political battles as Iraq struggled to emerge from years of war and the US-led occupation that followed the toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

“I might in fact decide to stop dealing with the judicial system and withdraw all the lawyers and attorneys,” said Al-Hashemi, who alleges the trial amounts to political payback for his opposition to Al-Maliki over the years. “I am absolutely innocent of all these allegations.” “I definitely feel secure in Turkey,” Al-Hashemi said. Though he added: “This is not the final destination, as far as I’m concerned. I’m planning to return back to my country.”

He did not say when he would return, saying his travel plans depended on developments in his case in Baghdad. — AP