Tariq Aziz

For other uses, see Tariq Aziz (disambiguation).

Tariq Aziz طارق عزيز‎
Member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
In office 16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003
President	Saddam Hussein
Succeeded by	Jay Garner as Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority
Foreign Minister of Iraq
In office 1983–1991
President	Saddam Hussein
Succeeded by	Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf
Personal details
Born	Mikhail Yuhanna April 28, 1936 (1936-04-28) (age 75) Tel Keppe, Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi
Political party	Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party
Profession	Journalist, politician
Religion	Chaldean Catholic

Tariq Aziz (Arabic: طارق عزيز‎ Ṭāriq ʿAzīz, né: Mikhail Yuhanna (Syriac: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ ܝܘܚܢܢ Mīḵāil Yōḥāon, Arabic: ميخائيل يوحنا‎ Mīḫāʾīl Yūḥannā baptized Manuel Christo; born April 28, 1936) was the Foreign Minister (1983 – 1991) and Deputy Prime Minister (1979 – 2003) of Iraq and a close advisor of former President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s when both were activists for the then-banned Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party. He is an ethnic Assyrian and a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Because of security concerns, Saddam rarely left Iraq, so Aziz would often represent Iraq at high-level diplomatic summits. What the United States wanted, he averred, was not "regime change" in Iraq but rather "region change". He summed up the Bush Administration's reasons for war against Iraq tersely: "oil and Israel."^[1]

Since surrendering to American forces on April 24, 2003, Aziz has been held in prison, first by American forces and subsequently by the Iraqi government. He is currently in prison in Camp Cropper in western Baghdad.^[2] He was acquitted of some charges on March 1, 2009 following a trial, but was sentenced to 15 years on March 11, 2009 for the executions of 42 merchants found guilty of profiteering in 1992 and another 7 years for relocating Kurds.^[3] On October 26, 2010, he was sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, and this has sparked regional and international condemnation from Iraqi Bishops and other Iraqis, the Vatican, the United Nations, and the human rights organization Amnesty International, as well as various governments around the world, such as those of the European Union and Russia.^[4] On October 28, 2010, it was reported that Tariq Aziz, as well as 25 fellow prison inmates, had begun a hunger strike to protest the fact that they could not receive their once-monthly visit from friends and relatives, which was normally set for the last Friday of each month.^[5]

On November 17, 2010, it was reported that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had declared that he would not sign Aziz's execution order.^[6]

Early life

Aziz was born on April 28, 1936, in Tel Keppe,^[7] to an Assyrian family and is a member of the Chaldean Catholic church. Aziz studied English at the Baghdad University of Fine Arts, and later worked as a journalist, before joining the Ba'ath Party in 1957. In 1963, he was editor of the newspaper Aj-Jamahir (al-Jamaheer) and al Thawra, the newspaper of the Ba'ath party.^[8]

In April 1980 he survived an Iranian-backed assassination attempt carried out by members of the Islamic Dawa Party. In the attack, members of Islamic Dawa Party threw a grenade at Aziz in central Baghdad. The attack killed several people.^[9] It was among the casus belli of the Iran–Iraq War.

Family

His son Ziad Aziz lives in Jordan with his wife, four children, and Tariq Aziz's two sisters. Tariq Aziz's wife and another son live in Yemen.^[10]

Political career

Ronald Reagan hosts Aziz at the White House, 1984

Aziz with then President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on 26 July 2000.

He began to rise through the ranks of Iraqi politics after the Ba'ath party came to power in 1968. He served as a member of the Regional Command, the Ba'ath Party's highest governing organization from 1974 to 1977, and in 1977 became a member of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council.

In 1979, Aziz became Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, and worked as a diplomat to explain Iraq's policies to the world. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Tariq Aziz served as the international spokesman in support of the military action. He claimed the invasion was justified because Kuwait's increased oil production was harming Iraqi oil revenues. He condemned Arab states for "subservience to the United States' hegemony in the Middle East and their support for punitive sanctions."^[11]

On January 9, 1991, Aziz was involved in the Geneva Peace Conference which included the United States Secretary of State, James Baker. The goal of the meeting was to discuss a possible resolution to the occupation of Kuwait.

In 2001 Aziz's son Ziad was arrested for corruption. In January 1999 Ziad was accused by his former mistress of using the official position of his father (mostly his cars) to facilitate smooth crossing of the Jordanian border with contraband, attempted murder on her husband and family, as well as for corruption involving French and Indonesian companies. He was arrested and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Tariq Aziz resigned from his post but Hussein did not accept his resignation. Ziad was eventually released from prison when Hussein decided that Aziz had paid enough for his mistakes.

On February 14, 2003, Aziz reportedly had an audience with Pope John Paul II and other officials in Vatican City, where, according to a Vatican statement, he communicated "the wish of the Iraqi government to co-operate with the international community, notably on disarmament". The same statement said that the Pope "insisted on the necessity for Iraq to faithfully respect and give concrete commitments to resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, which is the guarantor of international law".^[12]

Iraq war

In October 2000 the then-junior Minister for Foreign Affairs from Britain, Peter Hain, set up a secret war avoidance team to carry messages back and forth between himself and Aziz.^[13] After initial cooperation, Aziz rebuffed the delegations.^[13]

On March 19, 2003, reports surfaced from Iraq that Aziz had been shot dead while trying to enter the Kurdish part of the country. The rumor was quashed rather quickly when Aziz held a press conference assuring the world he was still alive and well.

After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, his home was swiftly looted by Iraqis.

Weapons of mass destruction

Main article: Iraq and weapons of mass destruction

Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush claimed Tariq Aziz as one of the Iraqi regime who was responsible for hiding Iraqi WMD:

“	President Bush expressed unshakable confidence Saturday about finding banned weapons in Iraq and complained that Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest deputies, is not cooperating with U.S. forces who have him in custody. Bush said the deputy prime minister, the most visible face of the former Iraqi government other than Saddam, 'still doesn't know how to tell the truth.'	”
	— USA Today[14]

Detention

He voluntarily surrendered to American forces on April 24, 2003, after negotiations had been mediated by his son.^[15] His chief concern at the time was for the welfare of his family. At the time of his surrender, Aziz was ranked number 43 out of 55 in the American list of most-wanted Iraqis despite a belief "he probably would not know answers to questions like where weapons of mass destruction may be hidden and where Saddam Hussein might be."^[15]

Before the war, Aziz claimed he would rather die than be a U.S. prisoner of war: "Do you expect me, after all my history as a militant and as one of the Iraqi leaders, to go to an American prison – to go to Guantanamo? I would rather die", he told Britain's ITV.

Defense witness

On May 24, 2006, Aziz testified in Baghdad as a defense witness for Ibrahim Barzan and Mukhabarat employees, claiming that they did not have any role in the 1982 Dujail crackdown. He stated that the arrests were in response to the assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein, which was carried out by the Shiite Dawa Party. "If the head of state comes under attack, the state is required by law to take action. If the suspects are caught with weapons, it's only natural they should be arrested and put on trial".^[16]

He further testified that the Dujail attack was "part of a series of attacks and assassination attempts by this group, including against me." He said that in 1980, Dawa Party insurgents threw a grenade at him as he visited a Baghdad university, killing civilians around him. "I'm a victim of a criminal act conducted by this party, which is in power right now. So put it on trial. Its leader was the prime minister and his deputy is the prime minister right now and they killed innocent Iraqis in 1980," he said.^[16] The Dawa Party is now a party in the Shiite coalition that dominates the Iraqi government. The party's leader, Ibrahim al-Jaafari was prime minister until mid-May, when another leading Dawa Party figure, Nouri al-Maliki was picked and he was able to form a new government before the end of May 2006.^[17]

In closing he stated that "Saddam is my colleague and comrade for decades, and Barzan is my brother and my friend and he is not responsible for Dujail's events."

Imprisonment

On May 29, 2005, the British newspaper The Observer published letters (in Arabic and English) from Aziz written in April and May 2005, while he was in American custody, addressed to "world public opinion" pleading for international help to end "his dire situation":^[18]

“	It is imperative that there is intervention into our dire situation and treatment ... We hope that you will help us. We have been in prison for a long time and we have been cut from our families. No contacts, no phones, no letters. Even the parcels sent to us by our families are not given to us. We need a fair treatment, a fair investigation and finally a fair trial. Please help us.	”
	— Tariq Aziz[19]

In August 2005, Aziz's family was allowed to visit him. At the time the location of Aziz's prison was undisclosed; his family was brought in a bus with blackened out windows.

Due to security reasons he has since been moved to Camp Cropper, part of the huge US base surrounding Baghdad airport.^[20] His son has said that while his father is in poor health, he is being well treated by prison officials. He can make 30 minutes of telephone calls monthly and has access to US Arabic-language radio and television stations. Every two months his family can send a parcel containing clothes, cigarettes, chocolate, coffee and magazines.^[20]

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Chaldean community, Emmanuel III Delly, called for Aziz's release in his 2007 Christmas message. Aziz was acquitted of crimes against humanity, and his health conditions demand an immediate release from his prison Camp Cropper.^[10]

Aziz is currently in prison in Camp Cropper in western Baghdad.^[2] On 17 January 2010 he suffered a stroke and was transferred from prison to hospital.^[21] On August 5, 2010, The Guardian released his first face-to-face interview since his surrender.^[22] On September 22, 2010 documents were released that he had given an interview about how he had told the FBI that the dictator Saddam was "delighted" in the 1998 terrorist bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa but had no interest in partnering with Osama bin Laden.^[23]

Trial

He was set to appear before the Iraqi High Tribunal set up by the Iraq Interim Government, but not until April 2008 was he brought up on any charges.^[10] This changed when, on April 29, 2008, Aziz went on trial over the deaths of a group of 42 merchants who were executed by the Iraqi regime in 1992, after the merchants had been charged by the Iraqi regime with manipulating food prices when Iraq was under international sanctions.^[24] The charges brought against Aziz were reported by The Independent to be "surprising" as the deaths of the 42 merchants had always previously been attributed to Saddam Hussein.^[25] Never-the-less, on 11 March 2009 the Iraqi High Tribunal ruled that Aziz was guilty of crimes against humanity, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.^[26] On August 2, 2009, Aziz was convicted by the Iraqi High Tribunal of helping to plan the forced displacement of Kurds from northeastern Iraq and sentenced to seven years in jail.^[27] After these judgments had been passed, the BBC News published an article stating that, "there was no evidence that a Western court would regard as compelling that he had anything like final responsibility for the carrying out of the executions" of the 42 merchants and "there was no real evidence of his personal involvement and guilt" with regards to the displacement of Kurds.^[28] That same year, he was acquitted in a separate trial which concerned the suppression of an uprising in Baghdad during the 1990s.^[26]

On October 26, 2010, the Iraqi High Tribunal handed down a death sentence against Aziz for the offense of "persecution of Islamic parties,"^[29] amongst them the serving Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party, following a crackdown on a Shia uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.^[20] The Associated Press reports that "the judge gave no details of Aziz's specific role" in the crackdown.^[30] His lawyer stated that Tariq Aziz's role in the former Iraqi government was in the arena of "Iraq's diplomatic and political relations only, and had nothing to do with the executions and purges carried during Saddam's reign."^[31] His lawyer further stated that the death sentence itself was politically motivated and that timing of the death sentence may have been aimed at diverting international attention away from documents released by WikiLeaks, which detailed crimes in which Maliki government officials have been implicated.^[32] His lawyers have 30 days to lodge an appeal, following which the court would have another 30 days to look into the appeal; if the appeal is turned down the sentence would be carried out after another 30 days.^[32] On October 26, 2010 the Vatican urged the Iraqi government not to carry out his execution,^[30] and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton stated that Aziz's execution would be "unacceptable and the EU will seek to commute his sentence."^[33] That same day, the human rights organization Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the use of the death penalty in this case, as well as for the cases of two other former Iraqi officials; the statement also expressed concern regarding the manner in which trials may have been conducted by the Iraqi High Tribunal.^[34] On October 27, 2010, Greek President Karolos Papoulias and the Russian Foreign Ministry both released statements urging the Iraqi government not to carry out the death penalty against Tariq Aziz.^[35][36] Also on October 27, 2010, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was reported to have "stressed that the UN is against the death sentence and in this case, as in all others, it is calling for the verdict to be cancelled."^[37] On October 28, 2010, it was reported that Iraqi Bishops and ordinary Iraqis also condemned the death penalty for Tariq Aziz.^[38] Furthermore, according to the Wall Street Journal, "several international human-rights groups have criticised the procedures and questioned the impartiality of the court."^[39]

According to AFP, his family had stated that Tariq Aziz, along with 25 fellow inmates, has been on a hunger strike following the sentence to protest the denial of their once-monthly visits with family and friends, but an Iraqi court official has denied this.^[40] According to AFP, Aziz and the other prisoners were "still at the site of the court in Baghdad’s Green Zone and had not been transferred back to prison where they could have received their monthly visit."

On November 17, 2010, it was reported that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had declared that he would not sign Aziz's execution order. However, there is still a possibility that the execution will be carried out anyway.^[6]

According to press reports on November 29, 2010, Tariq Aziz will likely not be executed. He was accused of only minimal involvement in connection with atrocities committed against Kurdish people during the Iraq-Iran War and received a 10 year prison sentence from an Iraqi court in addition to previous convictions.^[41]

References

1. ^ Burns, John F. (2002-10-22). "Theats and Responses: Baghdad's View; Citing North Korea, an Iraqi Aide Says 'Oil and Israel,' Not Weapons, Spur the U.S.". New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60C12F83D580C718EDDA90994DA404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fA%2fAziz%2c%20Tariq. Retrieved 2007-02-10. 
2. ^ ^{a b} U.S. Attack Near Baghdad Reported to Kill at Least 15 (NY Times)
3. ^ "World | Middle East | Tariq Aziz guilty of Iraq murders". BBC News. March 11, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7937034.stm. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
4. ^ "Death sentence for Tariq Aziz draws international condemnation". Russia Today. October 27, 2010. http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-10-27/tariq-aziz-death-sentence.html. 
5. ^ "Iraq's Tareq Aziz on hunger strike: son". AFP. October 29, 2010. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hP16mo9Mw31RmWVsbU3JXAnSXpKw?docId=CNG.f7ff59e3829714d23524d35ed1afdd63.511. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Iraq president refuses to sign execution order for Tariq Aziz The Telegraph, November 17 2010
7. ^ http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php?topic=210552.0;wap2
8. ^ Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq (Princeton, 1978).
9. ^ Whitaker, Brian (April 25, 2003). "Christian outsider in Saddam's inner circle". London: Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,943280,00.html. Retrieved 24 December 2007. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Call to free Iraq's Tariq Aziz". BBC. 2007-12-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7158721.stm. Retrieved 2008-01-02. 
11. ^ iraqinews.com as retrieved on 3 August 2007 20:30:04 GMT.
12. ^ Official Vatican statement at the UN, referring to the Pope's meeting with Tarek Aziz
13. ^ ^{a b} Anton La Guardia, David Blair and Andrew Sparrow (May 6, 2003). "Britain kept open secret channel to Iraq". The Telegraph. http://www.lebanonwire.com/0305/03050603TGR.asp. Retrieved 2008-05-03. 
14. ^ "Bush: Aziz 'still doesn't know how to tell the truth'". pub. 2003-05-03. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-05-03-bush_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-24. "President Bush expressed unshakable confidence Saturday about finding banned weapons in Iraq and complained that Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest deputies, is not cooperating with U.S. forces who have him in custody.Bush said the deputy prime minister, the most visible face of the former Iraqi government other than Saddam, "still doesn't know how to tell the truth."" 
15. ^ ^{a b} "Son of Tariq Aziz Negotiated Surrender". ABC News. April 25, 2003. http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=79511. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "Tariq Aziz Takes Stand In Saddam Trial". CBS Broadcasting Inc. May 24, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20071025045024/http://wcbstv.com/topstories/Tariq.Aziz.Saddam.2.268188.html. Retrieved 2008-04-13. "that the crackdown was a legitimate response to the assassination attempt and that the prosecution has blamed the wrong authorities for the sweep. In particular, they have said the general security services were responsible for the arrests, not Ibrahim's Mukhabarat or the People's Army, headed at the time by co-defendant Taha Yassin Ramadan.... "If the head of state comes under attack, the state is required by law to take action. If the suspects are caught with weapons, it's only natural they should be arrested and put on trial,"" 
17. ^ "Profile: Nouri Maliki". BBC News. 20 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4932468.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-13. "Iraq's new Prime Minister Nouri Maliki - who is also sometimes called Jawad Maliki - is a stalwart of the Dawa party, the Shia political group that for years led an armed underground resistance to the secular Baathist leadership of Saddam Hussein." 
18. ^ PDF The Guardian file
19. ^ Antony Barnett (May 29, 2005). "The extraordinary pleas of Saddam's right-hand man". London: Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/may/29/iraq.antonybarnett. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
20. ^ ^{a b c} Fletcher, Martin (March 21, 2008). "Freedom plea for Tariq Aziz, Saddam's dying apologist". London: timesonline. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3593682.ece. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
21. ^ "Tariq Aziz 'has stroke in prison'". BBC News. January 17, 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8464370.stm. Retrieved May 24, 2010. 
22. ^ "Tariq Aziz: 'Britain and the US killed Iraq. I wish I was martyred'". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). August 5, 2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/05/iraq-us-tariq-aziz-iran. 
23. ^ Burns, Robert (September 22, 2010). "Iraqi: Saddam 'delighted' in terror attacks on US". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/22/AR2010092204177.html. Retrieved September 23, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
24. ^ "Tariq Aziz guilty of Iraq murders". BBC News. March 11, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7937034.stm. Retrieved May 24, 2010. 
25. ^ "Tariq Aziz faces trial for executing 42". The Independent. 2008-04-25. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tariq-aziz-faces-trial-for-executing-42-815432.html. 
26. ^ ^{a b} "Tariq Aziz, 'Chemical Ali' sentenced by Iraq court". CNN. March 11, 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/11/iraq.main/index.html. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
27. ^ "Former Iraqi Official Gets 7 Years for Expelling Kurds". Voice of America. August 2, 2009. http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-08-02-voa20.cfm. Retrieved August 2, 2009. 
28. ^ "Tariq Aziz: Saddam's dangerously loyal courtier". BBC News. October 26, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11631462. Retrieved 2008-04-25. 
29. ^ "Iraqi ex-minister Tariq Aziz sentenced to death". BBC News. October 26, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11625501. Retrieved 2010-10-26. 
30. ^ ^{a b} "Top Saddam ally, Tariq Aziz, to be executed". Forbes. October 26, 2010. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/10/26/general-ml-iraq_8046367.html. Retrieved 2010-10-26. 
31. ^ "Former top Iraqi leader sentenced to death". UPI. October 26, 2010. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/10/26/Former-top-Iraqi-leader-sentenced-to-death/UPI-82941288095889/. Retrieved 2010-10-26. 
32. ^ ^{a b} "Tariq Aziz sentenced to death". Al Jazeera. October 26, 2010. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/201010269256151984.html. Retrieved 2010-10-26. 
33. ^ "Italy: Holy See condemns Tariq Aziz death sentence". AKI. October 27, 2010. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.1.1166409779. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
34. ^ "Former Saddam Hussain officials face death penalty". AI. October 26, 2010. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/former-saddam-hussain-officials-face-death-penalty-2010-10-26. 
35. ^ "Greece urges Iraq to spare former foreign minister Tariq Aziz from execution". Associated Press. October 27, 2010. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/greece-urges-iraq-to-spare-former-foreign-minister-tariq-aziz-from-execution-105868463.html. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
36. ^ "Russia opposes Aziz death sentence". Voice of Russia. October 27, 2010. http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/10/27/28884639.html. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
37. ^ "Death sentence for Tariq Aziz draws international condemnation". Russia Today. October 27, 2010. http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-10-27/tariq-aziz-death-sentence.html. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
38. ^ "Iraq: Iraqi bishops againt [sic] hanging Tareq Aziz". Spero News. 2010-10-28. http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=42604&t=Iraq%3A+++Iraqi+bishops+againt+hanging+Tareq+Aziz. 
39. ^ "Iraq's Aziz Faces Death Sentence". Wall Street Journal. October 27, 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702303390704575575730421888998.html. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
40. ^ http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=120987#axzz143dIhj7l
41. ^ Aziz gets 10 years for atrocities on Kurds

External links

	Iraq portal
	Biography portal

• Tariq Aziz faces US questions - BBC, April 25, 2003
• Tariq Aziz Profile - BBC, October 11, 2002
• Tariq Aziz at the Internet Movie Database

Political offices
Preceded by Nasser al-Hani	Foreign Minister of Iraq 1983–1991	Succeeded by Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf

Persondata
Name	Aziz, Tariq
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 28, 1936
Place of birth	Qaraqosh, Iraq
Date of death
Place of death