Saddam’s ally Aziz sentenced to death

BAGHDAD – Tariq Aziz, the dapper diplomat and highest-ranking Christian in Saddam Hussein’s regime, was sentenced Tuesday to death by hanging for persecuting members of the Shiite religious parties that now dominate the country.

The decision to execute the 74-year-old Aziz, who has suffered a series of strokes in prison, shows the depth of hatred among Iraq’s current Shiite leadership for top figures in a Baathist regime that sent hundreds of thousands of opponents to death or exile.

Among Shiites in the vast, eastern Baghdad slum called Sadr City, a gallows death for one of Saddam’s ardent aides was considered a fitting end.

“This is a fair judicial court ruling against those whose hands are still bloodied,” said Kamil Jassim, a 32-year-old teacher.

Many Sunnis, the minority Muslim sect that dominated Iraq under Saddam, questioned whether the death sentence was merely revenge masquerading as justice.

“The aim of this court, formed by this government, is to kill and liquidate all of the former regime’s senior figures if they committed crimes or not. It is an unfair trial and unfair verdict,” said Jameel Sahib Ali, a 50-year-old merchant in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit.

Aziz was wearing a blue suit and his trademark oversized glasses as he sat alone in court. He frequently grasped the handrail that surrounds the defendant’s box and bowed his head as the judge read out the verdict.

Tuesday’s proceedings, broadcast on state TV, came nearly 20 years after Aziz’s meeting in Geneva with U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker failed to prevent the 1991 Gulf War. Aziz also met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican weeks before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion in a bid to head off that conflict.

No date has been set for the hanging, and Aziz’s lawyer has 30 days to appeal the sentence handed down by a court responsible for prosecuting crimes committed by the former regime.

Aziz has already been convicted in two other cases, receiving a combined 22 years in prison.

In the long-running case for which he received the death penalty, Aziz was accused of being part of a campaign of persecuting, killing and torturing members of the Shiite opposition and religious parties banned under Saddam. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a member of one of the religious parties central to the case.

Aziz was sentenced to 15 years in prison for taking part in forced displacement, 10 years for committing torture, and death by hanging for participating in deliberate killings. The judge gave no details of Aziz’s specific role.