He alone of those in direct contact with the dictator knew Iraq’s real position in the world. But either he failed to pass on the bad news to Saddam or he was overruled. In any case, he was never permitted to make the concessions that would have avoided war. In 1990, after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Mr Aziz was the man given the task of confronting the world’s condemnation.

As Foreign Minister, which he had become in 1983, he received dozens of delegations, including the Soviet Middle East expert Yevgeni Primakov (who described him as a mere “go-between”). In January 1991, he met James Baker, the US Secretary of State, in Switzerland. Mr Aziz was given a letter from the US President to Saddam. He read it, underlined passages, and calmly handed it back saying that it could not be forwarded because the language was inappropriate. Four days later, war began.

Mr Baker recalled later that Mr Aziz was a very professional negotiator who had been given an “extraordinarily bad brief”. He noted that although he had made clear to Mr Aziz the consequences of remaining in Kuwait, the Iraqi minister was simply unable to give any assurance that Saddam would order a withdrawal.

Cultivated, urbane, well read and apparently reasonable, Mr Aziz seemed out of keeping or sympathy with the provincial thugs who surrounded Saddam. No one knew whether he served Saddam because he believed in his cause or because he was trapped. But it was obvious that he himself had little direct power over his master, and was as terrified of him as others who were ordered to carry out his wishes.

His son was arrested and accused of taking bribes from a foreign supplier, and it was rumoured that Saddam had had some of Mr Aziz’s other relations executed — a curious reminder of the way Stalin, on whom Saddam modelled himself, treated his own Foreign Minister, Molotov.

That Mr Aziz was a Christian was important to Saddam, who, despite a later propagandistic embrace of Islam, was hostile to most Muslim clergy and sensitivities. He knew that Mr Aziz could not form a power base among the Muslim majority to challenge his rule. Mr Aziz used his religious affiliations to pose as a man in sympathy with Western culture. Before the recent war he exaggerated his Christian affiliations in seeking, and receiving, a long audience with the Pope.

Mr Aziz kept a keen eye on Western opinion. In his villa US troops found books by Kissinger and Mao, old issues of Vanity Fair, and biographies of foes such as the first President Bush, Ayatollah Khomeini, and the late Israeli Cabinet minister Moshe Dayan.

In the 1980s, while Iraq was seen as a vital counter to Iran and Islamic fundamentalism, Mr Aziz was a frequent visitor to the West. He was dined by the British Government. He persuaded governments to ignore Saddam’s excesses and support Iraq in its war with Iran. He even met President Reagan at the White House, leading to a restoration of diplomatic relations.

Mr Aziz was born in Mosul in 1936, the son of a waiter. A graduate in English from Baghdad University, he became editor of the Baathist newspaper al-Thawra and was the party’s propaganda chief before it seized power, later becoming Minister of Information.

He once told the Soviet Union that there was no need for a communist party in Iraq, adding that if any communists wanted to become “martyrs”, Iraq could happily oblige. He would insult Western statesmen, including President Clinton and Tony Blair, in fluent English.

In recent years he remained apparently as self-confident as ever, betraying no hint of nervousness in Baghdad. Nor did he seem disturbed by the brutality of those he served: many of his colleagues fell victim to Saddam, being killed hours after he had spoken to them.

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