Saddam’s former minister Aziz seriously ill: lawyer

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister
Tareq Aziz is ailing and may have only weeks to live, his
lawyer said on Thursday after visiting the man who was once the
public face of Saddam Hussein’s regime abroad.

“He is suffering from high blood pressure and he cannot
walk properly. His situation is very bad. He is being given 13
pills a day for his blood pressure, diabetes and other
illnesses to prevent strokes,” lawyer Badia Aref told Reuters.

“If you look at him you would say that he has only a few
weeks to live.”

Saddam’s loyal minister Aziz was jailed after the 2003
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. No formal charges have yet been
brought against him.

U.S. forces, who have physical custody over detained former
senior members of Saddam’s regime, allowed Aziz’s family to
visit him last August.

No reason was given for the visit, which lasted just 30
minutes, but it was the first allowed by U.S. forces. Aziz’s
sister said afterwards only that her brother looked tired and
made no mention of his ill-health.

Aziz’s attorney has been fighting to get his client, who is
in his late sixties, released from jail. He has said previously
that he does not expect him to be put on trial.

“I went to see him on the first day of Eid (the Islamic
religious festival). He was in a very bad condition. His
situation has deteriorated since the last time I saw him,” Aref
said.

“This time he was having difficulty focusing. He wasn’t
listening to me at all and kept on repeating one thing: ‘I want
to see my family, I want to see my children’.”

Aref said he had spoken of his concerns to the colonel
supervising Aziz who had told him he would take the matter up
with higher authorities. The U.S. military said it was checking
the report but had no immediate information on Aziz’s health.