http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/17/AR2010111703 626.html
Iraq president won't sign Hussein foreign minister Aziz's death sentence By Leila Fadel Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, November 17, 2010; 1:14 PM BAGHDAD - Iraq's <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/iraq.html?nav=el> president said Wednesday that he would not sign an execution order for the foreign minister in Saddam Hussein's government, who was sentenced to death <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/26/AR201010260 1000.html> last month. "I will not sign Tariq Aziz's death sentence," Jalal Talabani told France <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/france.html?nav=el> 24 television during a visit to Paris for the Socialist International meeting. "I will sign no death sentence at all, because as a social democrat, I'm against the death penalty." The statement by Talabani, who was reelected to the presidency last week, followed calls by the Vatican and Russia <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/russia.html?nav=el> to halt the execution on humanitarian grounds. Aziz, 74, is in poor health. He was the most senior Christian official in Hussein's predominantly Sunni government, as well as its international face. Talabani, a Kurd, told the French news channel that he "sympathized" with Aziz "because he is an Iraqi Christian." Moreover," Talabani said, "he is an old man who is over 70." The president's stand did not come as a surprise and may not prevent the controversial execution. During Talabani's earlier tenure as president, he never signed off on a death sentence, but Iraqi authorities nevertheless hanged several senior members of the former government, including Hussein. Aziz was sentenced Oct. 26 by a special tribunal set up after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to prosecute senior members of Hussein's government. He was convicted of persecuting members of Shiite political parties, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party. Ziad Tariq Aziz, Aziz's son, said in a phone interview that the family has not heard from him in more than a month and is not sure whether his court-appointed attorney has filed an appeal, which must be done within 30 days of sentencing. The family does not have a lawyer in Baghdad. The sentence, which Aziz's family and attorney have described as politically motivated, came amid an impasse as Iraqi politicians jockeyed for positions in a new government. The presiding judge had run unsuccessfully for parliament on a promise to "humiliate the tyrants," a reference to Hussein's government. "We hope Talabani insists that he will not sign and that he will push the others to stop this killing of people from here and there," Ziad Tariq Aziz said. "As a family, we thank Mr. Talabani, and we want him to go to the end with this." Aziz, an Assyrian Christian born outside Mosul, was among the first to turn himself in to U.S. forces in April 2003. He was transferred to Iraqi custody in July <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/14/AR201007140 1604.html> . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
