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Tariq Aziz praises 'hero' Saddam at Anfal genocide
trial
5.3.2007 |
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March 5, 2007
BAGHDAD, March 5,-- Iraqi former deputy prime
minister Tariq Aziz on Monday praised Saddam Hussein
and denied there had been mass killings under the
executed dictator's rule, earning sharp rebukes from
the judge at the so-called Anfal genocide trial.
"I had the honour to work with the former regime and
with the hero Saddam Hussein," Aziz said from the
witness stand at the Iraqi High Tribunal, where six
leaders of the former regime are accused of genocide
against Kurds.
"He is the hero behind the unity of Iraq and its
sovereignty. This is an honour to me," Aziz added in
a statement that belied the reputation he enjoyed in
some quarters as a moderate in Saddam's camp.
"Shut up -- don't speak," said the trial's chief
judge Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah, angrily trying
to silence the ailing Aziz. |
Tariq Aziz, Iraqi former deputy prime minister |
"Why do you prevent me
from speaking?" Aziz answered calmly.
"I will take legal measures against you," the judge
warned.
Aziz replied: "Why? I am already a prisoner. What
would you do to me?"
The judge again ordered him to "shut up."
Aziz, 71, surrendered to US troops in Iraq in April
2003. Since then he has been under lock and key at
Camp Cropper, a holding centre near Baghdad
international airport.
His family has repeatedly called for his release on
health grounds, saying that he suffers from diabetes
and respiratory problems.
Aziz is suspected of involvement in the execution of
dozens of members of the former Baath regime in 1979
and mass killings of Shiites and Kurds in 1991, but
his lawyers say he has yet to be charged.
On Monday he was brought to the High Tribunal to
give evidence against the six defendants in the
Anfal trial of Saddam aides charged with involvement
in the killing of up to 182,000 Iraqi Kurds in the
late 1980s.
But Aziz denied there had been any mass killings
under Saddam.
"I was foreign minister... The government I was part
of did not commit genocide against the Kurdish
people," he insisted.
His comments again angered the judge.
"You are here testifying (on behalf of) the regime,
not the accused," the judge said. "No, I am
testifying (on behalf of) the accused," Aziz
answered.
Saddam was executed last December 30 after being
found guilty of crimes against humanity in a
previous trial, but the Kurdish genocide trial is
continuing with six of his former allies still in
the dock.
AFP
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