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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Saddam’s ex-spokesman calls confinement ‘unjust’

Chicago Tribune

LONDON – Tariq Aziz, the suave, cigar-smoking deputy prime minister who served as Saddam Hussein’s voice to the world, has complained that his “unjust” confinement by U.S. authorities in a secret prison near Baghdad is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Taken into custody after surrendering to U.S. authorities two years ago, little had been heard from Aziz until Sunday when a series of notes scribbled in the diary of his lawyer over the last three months were published by the Observer, a British newspaper.

Addressed to “The world public opinion,” Aziz writes, “We are totally isolated from the world. There are 13 other detainees here, but we have no meetings or telephone contacts with our families. I have been accused unjustly, but to date, no proper investigation has taken place.

“It is imperative that there is intervention into our dire situation. It is totally in contradiction to international law, the Geneva Convention and Iraqi law as we know it,” he continued in the note written in Arabic.

The Observer did not detail how it came into possession of the notes.