Iraq

Tareq Aziz on trial Tuesday

Article published on the 2008-04-29 Latest update 2008-04-29 09:42 TU

Former Iraq deputy premier Tarek Aziz.
(Photo : AFP)

Former Iraqi deputy premier under the Sadaam Hussein regime, Tareq Aziz, faces the Iraqi High Tribunal Tuesday, charged with having a hand in the execution of 42 businessmen in 1992. If convicted, he faces the death penalty. The slick spokesman, known for his soundbytes in fluent English during the first Iraq war, turned himself over to US custody one month after the March 2003 invasion. He has been held by the US ever since.

This is not Aziz's first appearance before the Iraqi high court. He took the stand during a trial of three other former members of the government last year to insist that Saddam Hussein had only been punishing would-be assassins when he ordered the deaths of 148 Iraqis.

Saddam gave the order in 1982 after an assassination attempt. It was ultimately the reason he was executed in 2006 for crimes against humanity.