Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashemi slammed Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s statement to Alsumaria TV, saying “Al Maliki’s statement about being threaten of arrest to carry out the arrest warrant against me is a joke and Iraqi people will not believe it.” Al-Hashemi also pointed that the current political crisis in Iraq is actually making Iraqiya Bloc, Al-Maliki's political party, stronger.