Tariq Aziz, once the international face of Saddam Hussein’s regime, is due to appear in a Baghdad court today, accused of playing a part in the execution of a group of businessmen more than 15 years ago.

Mr Aziz, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and seven others are acused of killing 42 dealers in 1992 after blaming them for raising food prices when Iraq was suffering under UN sanctions. He denies the charge. Among his co-defendants is Ali Hasan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali”, who is already on death row.

The trial, presided over by the same judge who sentenced Saddam to death in 2006, is the fourth to be conducted by the Iraqi High Tribunal, which was established to try former Saddam officials.

Mr Aziz’s son, Ziad, told The Times that his father was innocent and said that the case against him was weak. Speaking from Amman, where he lives after being forced to flee Iraq, Ziad Aziz said that his father intended to defend himself in court. “He said, ‘I will explain to the judge that I am not involved in these things’.”

He added that he had seen all the documents in the case and his father’s name was not mentioned once. “I do not know why they chose this case,” he said, claiming that Mr Aziz had been out of Iraq on official business when the alleged crime took place.

As for how his father, now in his early seventies, sounded, he said: “He is good. He sounded strong,” but then added: “He is not in good health.”

Mr Aziz has spent the past five years in a US-run detention centre in Iraq since surrendering to American forces in the weeks after the invasion. His lawyers have long highlighted their client’s ill-health, including high blood pressure and heart problems. Ziad Aziz said that no family member had seen his father in more than two years.

Asked for his thoughts on the outcome of the trial, he said: “We are all worried because of what happened to the President and the others.” Saddam was executed on December 30, 2006, for his role in the killing of 148 Shia Arabs in the town of Dujail after an assassination attempt against him in 1992. Two other henchmen met the same fate.

“Chemical Ali” is on death row with two more Saddam allies for their part in the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds. Many ordinary Iraqis are glad to see justice being done to members of the ousted regime, but they are largely more sympathetic towards Mr Aziz than to notorious characters such as Saddam and al-Majid. “Mr Aziz is different because he worked hard trying to lift the UN sanctions and stop the Iraqis from suffering,” Haifaa al-Jaaf, a human rights activist, said.

Others argue that greater attention should be paid to tackling the countless terrible crimes that have taken place since the 2003 invasion, rather than focusing purely on senior members of the outlawed Baath party.

Badie Aref, Mr Aziz’s lawyer, said that the trial was illegal. “The Aziz family is expecting a phone call at any time to tell them that he has died because of poor health. They do not trust that this trial will be fair,” he said.

Mr Aref, also living in Jordan, has sent one of his assistants to cover the trial because he is unable to travel to Iraq for fear of being arrested.

A figure familiar to the world with his thick glasses, neat moustache and fluent English, Mr Aziz defended Saddam’s policies on the international stage. He was the only Christian among the President’s top officials.

He remained outside the inner circle of Sunni Arab clansmen in the Baath party, despite having known Saddam since the 1950s and changing his given name from Michael Yuhanna to Tariq Aziz to appease hostile Arab nationalists.

His master's voice

— Born in Mosul in 1936, the son of a waiter, Tariq Aziz graduated in English from Baghdad University. Became editor of the Baathist newspaper al-Thawra and was party propaganda chief before it seized power

— Saddam’s Foreign Minister before Gulf War and as Deputy Prime Minister before US-led invasion of Iraq. Seen as a voice of moderation, restored diplomatic ties with US in 1984 and advised against 1990 invasion of Kuwait

— Lambasted the West over the Oil-for-Food programme, comparing “the tragedies inflicted on our people in the course of 12 years of continuous aggression and UN sanctions” with 9/11

— Was the eight of spades in the coalition’s “most wanted” pack of cards but surrendered meekly to US forces soon after Baghdad fell. The US military reciprocated by flying his family to Jordan

Source: Times archives

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