SADDAMâS deputy PM Tariq Aziz is pleading to move to Britain. The schemer has told his US captors he will reveal all about the Iraqi regime in exchange for a new identity and cushy life here. Cigar-smoking Aziz, 67, was Saddamâs best-known mouthpiece and condemned the UK. Now he wants to live here because he is terrified of being executed by Iraqis and is desperate to dodge US strict justice.
| I forget. Whatever happened to Ribbentrop? |
Aziz, who gave himself up on Thursday, is the most senior Saddam aide caught so far. Human rights groups last night said: âThe guy is a murderous scumbag and we donât want him here. He has got the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands.â The Iraqi Community Association, representing 250,000 Iraqis who fled to Britain, condemned any deal. Spokesman Hashim Ali said: âIt is unthinkable that Aziz gains protection in this country. He is a nasty, murderous man.â
"Hi! I'm your new neighbor!"
"Ain't you the guy that helped slaughter my old neighbors?"
"Nah. That was... ummm... somebody else." |
Within hours of his capture in Baghdad, Aziz â a top member of Saddamâs Revolutionary Command Council â hinted to US forces about his knowledge of weapons, crimes against humanity and Saddamâs last-known whereabouts. He even threw the name of Labour MP George Galloway â accused of being on the Iraqi payroll â into the conversation. An insider said: âAziz has made it clear he is ready for a total sell-out. He knows we are anxious to retrieve this information and is playing hard-to-get. He has his price and heâs sticking out for it. He is trying to do a deal to get himself off the hook. Aziz is a walking goldmine of information about Saddam and the regime â and he knows it. He sees his knowledge as an insurance policy which he is now trying to cash in to buy himself out of jail.â
| Uhuh. Feet of about the same grade of clay we expected. Nice touch, throwing in Galloway's name like that. Wonder who else he fingered? |
The monsterâs greatest fear is being sent to face trial before an Iraqi peopleâs court â and a death sentence. Cigar-smoking Aziz also dreads being sent to Cuba, where his favourite Havanas are made, to be detained at Americaâs Camp X-Ray. The source added: âHe knows that as a Christian and a key member of the regime there is no chance of Iraqis showing any leniency towards him. He is terrified of spending his last hours swinging from a crane in the centre of Baghdad. Heâs worried about being on American soil. Aziz is asking for assurances that if he provides detailed evidence and acts as a witness, heâll be treated like one. He wants immunity from prosecution and a witness protection deal, involving a new identity. Heâs also suggested a move to France if they would take him, but Britain is his top choice."
| France would seem to be an appropriate choice, wouldn't it? I lean toward the crane scenario, myself... |
âHe says there is no record of him having taken part in any war crimes but he can help nail those who did.â
| "The witnesses are all dead!" |
Desperate Aziz made his demands as CIA chiefs quizzed him at a PoW camp. He will be flown to a high-security cell â possibly on a US airbase.
| How about Bagram? He'll like Afghanistan. Nice place. Friendly people. |
Aziz gave himself up after two days negotiating through an intermediary. A Pentagon official said: âHe wanted assurances he wouldnât be taken into a back room and shackled and beaten.â Azizâs son Ziab said the handover was dignified and US forces arranged treatment for a heart condition.
| We don't need to thump him. He's built his own nightmare... |
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