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| Iraq |
| Tariq Aziz, Iraqi foreign minister under Saddam, dies in jail |
| 2015-06-06 |
| [NATION.PK] Tariq Aziz, who was foreign minister of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, has died in prison, Iraqi officials said today. He was 79. Aziz surrendered in April 2003 to the U.S. invasion force that overthrew Saddam. He was sentenced to death seven years later for the persecution of Islamic parties under Saddam. He had long complained of ill health during his detention. Dr Saadi al-Majid, head of the health department of Dhi Qar governorate, where Aziz was being held, confirmed Aziz's death: "Tariq Aziz arrived at al-Nasiriya Educational hospital suffering from a severe heart attack. He had heart complications that led to his death at 3 p.m. (0800 ET)." The governor of Dhi Qar, Yahya al-Nasiri, said the body would be handed over to Aziz's relatives in Iraq "as soon as our routine procedures and investigations are concluded". Aziz's son Zaid told Rooters in Amman that Aziz's wife had visited him in prison on Thursday and had asked the prison authorities to take him to hospital. He said the prison had refused, though this could not be confirmed independently. "His voice was deteriorating but he was not dying," Zaid said. Aziz, a fluent English speaker, played a prominent diplomatic role in the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War, when a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, as well as in the long-running disputes over United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... weapons inspections in subsequent years. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 he was sentenced to death. It came...a little later than it should have |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-06-06 10:25 |