Tariq Aziz, the debonair Iraqi former deputy prime minister who made his name by staunchly defending Saddam Hussein to the world during three wars and was later sentenced to death as part of the regime that killed hundreds of thousands of its own people, has died in a hospital in southern Iraq, officials said. He was 79.
Aziz ,the highest-ranking Christian in Saddam’s regime was its international face for years. He was sentenced in October 2010 to death for persecuting members of the Shiite Muslim religious parties that now dominate Iraq.
A Baghdad government official confirmed the death of Aziz. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Al-Nassiri, the governor of Dhi Qar province where Nasiriyah is the capital, said Aziz’s wife Violet had visited him on Thursday in prison and spent about an hour with him. Aziz had suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure for a long time, and he was a chain smoker, the governor added. Local Iraqi authorities yesterday told the family it could take Aziz’s body from the hospital morgue.
The only Christian among Saddam’s inner circle, Aziz’s religion rescued him from the hangman’s noose that was the fate of other members of the top regime leadership.
After he was sentenced to death, the Vatican asked for mercy for him as a Christian. Iraq’s president at the time, Jalal Talabani, then refused to give the death sentence his required signature, citing Aziz’s age and religion.
Al-Nassiri said that Aziz was immediately taken to the hospital when the heart attack occurred. “The medical staff did their best to rescue him, but they failed. It is God’s will,” he added.
Even before he was sentenced, the ailing Aziz appeared to know that he would die in custody. He had had several strokes while in custody undergoing trial multiple times for various regime crimes.
“I have no future. I have no future,” Aziz told The Associated Press, looking frail and speaking with difficulty because of a recent stroke, in a jailhouse interview in September 2010. At that stage, he had been sentenced to more than two decades in prison.
“I’m sick and tired but I wish Iraq and Iraqis well,” he said.
Elegant and eloquent, Aziz spoke fluent English, smoked Cuban cigars and was loyal to Saddam to the last, even naming one of his son’s after the dictator. His posts included that of foreign minister and deputy prime minister, and he sat on the Revolutionary Command Council, the highest body in Saddam’s regime.
Aziz died yesterday after he was taken to the al-Hussein hospital in the city of Nasiriyah, about 320 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, according to the provincial governor, Yahya al-Nassiri. Aziz had been in custody in a prison in the south, awaiting execution.
Aziz ,the highest-ranking Christian in Saddam’s regime was its international face for years. He was sentenced in October 2010 to death for persecuting members of the Shiite Muslim religious parties that now dominate Iraq.
A Baghdad government official confirmed the death of Aziz. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Al-Nassiri, the governor of Dhi Qar province where Nasiriyah is the capital, said Aziz’s wife Violet had visited him on Thursday in prison and spent about an hour with him. Aziz had suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure for a long time, and he was a chain smoker, the governor added. Local Iraqi authorities yesterday told the family it could take Aziz’s body from the hospital morgue.
The only Christian among Saddam’s inner circle, Aziz’s religion rescued him from the hangman’s noose that was the fate of other members of the top regime leadership.
After he was sentenced to death, the Vatican asked for mercy for him as a Christian. Iraq’s president at the time, Jalal Talabani, then refused to give the death sentence his required signature, citing Aziz’s age and religion.
Al-Nassiri said that Aziz was immediately taken to the hospital when the heart attack occurred. “The medical staff did their best to rescue him, but they failed. It is God’s will,” he added.
Even before he was sentenced, the ailing Aziz appeared to know that he would die in custody. He had had several strokes while in custody undergoing trial multiple times for various regime crimes.
“I have no future. I have no future,” Aziz told The Associated Press, looking frail and speaking with difficulty because of a recent stroke, in a jailhouse interview in September 2010. At that stage, he had been sentenced to more than two decades in prison.
“I’m sick and tired but I wish Iraq and Iraqis well,” he said.
Elegant and eloquent, Aziz spoke fluent English, smoked Cuban cigars and was loyal to Saddam to the last, even naming one of his son’s after the dictator. His posts included that of foreign minister and deputy prime minister, and he sat on the Revolutionary Command Council, the highest body in Saddam’s regime.
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