• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Iraq's Aziz says will not testify against Saddam

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 August 2005, 13:51 CDT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Tareq Aziz, the Iraqi former deputy prime minister, denied on Tuesday that he might testify against his former president Saddam Hussein in a trial that could begin in a couple of months.

In an effort to quash speculation that the man who was Saddam's envoy to the outside world might turn star witness for the prosecution, Aziz delivered a statement through his lawyer.

"I would like to make clear ... that I will not testify against anyone and, in particular, I will not testify against Saddam Hussein," attorney Badia Aref quoted Aziz saying in a note he passed the lawyer during a meeting earlier in the day.

So far, Saddam has been formally charged in one case -- the killing of dozens of Shi'ite Muslims from the village of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt in 1982. If he is found guilty, he faces the death penalty. An Iraqi judge said on Monday the trial was expected to begin in two months.

Dujail is seen as a relatively minor case among the many accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity leveled at the ousted president and his senior advisers. But prosecutors hope it will be easier to secure a conviction in a smaller case.

Saddam is awaiting trial at a U.S.-run high-security camp on the outskirts of Baghdad. He has appeared before Iraq's war crimes tribunal along with several aides, including Aziz.

No charges have yet been brought publicly against Aziz, who Aref said, was last questioned by a magistrate on June 24.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category