|
Iraq's Tariq Aziz threatens hunger strike
26.7.2007
|
|
|
|
July 26, 2007
AMMAN, -- Former Iraqi deputy prime minister
Tariq Aziz, who collapsed in a US military prison
earlier this month, is in failing health and he has
threatened to go on hunger strike, his son said on
Thursday.
"I spoke to my father on the phone yesterday. His
voice was weak and inaudible. I could hardly
understand him but he is clearly in bad shape," Ziad
Aziz said, in a telephone interview.
He said that he understood from his father "that he
and 14 co-detainees plan on starting a hunger strike
next week if the court continues to deny him the
right to have a lawyer present during
interrogations.
"My father's lawyer -- Badih Aref Ezzat -- is not
allowed in Iraq for mysterious reasons and as a
result my father is without a lawyer," said Aziz who
has lived in Jordan with his family since April
2003. |
Former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, the
former dictator Saddam Hussein's top aides |
|
Last week Tariq Aziz, 71, underwent medical tests
after suffering a fall while walking at a US prison
camp on July 17, but he was given a clean bill of
health and returned to custody, the US military
said.
Aziz, who also served as foreign minister under the
regime of late dictator Saddam Hussein, is being
detained at a camp outside Baghdad on suspicion of
crimes against humanity.
According to his son Aziz "now shares his cell with
another prisoner who takes care of him because he is
so weak.
Ziad Aziz said he would hold US President George W.
Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown responsible for
his father's health.
Aziz turned himself over in April 2003 over to US
forces one month after they overthrew Saddam.
He was later questioned several times by judges of
the Iraqi Special Tribunal trying the former
president and top aides for crimes against humanity
and war crimes.
Aziz could face charges of mass murder, allegedly
committed in 1979 and 1991, and would face the death
penalty if convicted. He has denied any involvement,
and his lawyers say he has never been formally
charged.
AFP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
