Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) is seeking the assistance of Interpol which it has asked, through Japan, to issue an arrest warrant for the arrest of Alihammad Jomaah, an Iraqi suspected of killing his Taiwanese wife's parents in Taipei. Jomaah left the country with his one-year-old son Tuesday on a flight bound for Japan, authorities said Wednesday.
As a result, the police have asked law enforcement in Japan to help track down the 31-year-old Iraqi man. However, Taiwan is not a member of Interpol and has no extradition treaty or mutual judicial assistance pact with Japan. As such, the assistance received is likely to be limited, the CIB said Thursday. o locate Jomaah, Taiwanese law enforcement can only seek unofficial assistance from the Japanese police, according to the CIB.
As of Wednesday evening, the police in Taiwan said they had received no information from the Japanese authorities as to whether Jomaah is still in the country. owever, even if the Japanese police apprehend the suspect, with no extradition treaty between Taiwan and Japan it will be difficult for authorities in Taiwan to secure his extradition, the CIB said Thursday.
According to the police, Jomaah contacted his wife Wednesday afternoon via LINE video chat and told her their son was with him in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Jomaah's parents-in-law, both in their 70s, were found dead at their home in Taipei's Shilin District on Wednesday morning, police said.
An autopsy was due to be conducted Wednesday afternoon to confirm the cause of the couple's death, according to the Shihlin District Prosecutors Office. Jumaah's wife gave a police statement the same day, the police said. According to investigators, Jumaah's wife said she and her son returned from Japan, where the family lived, in March this year because her husband had become physically abusive. Jumaah and his wife argued over custody and child visitation rights in the event of a divorce, investigators said, citing the wife.