Tariq Aziz Goes On Trial

The group is accused of executing 42 traders after blaming them for manipulating food prices when Iraq was under UN sanctions. Prosecutors in Baghdad allege that the businessmen were arrested in Baghdad's Shurja market, rounded up and executed after a speedy trial in 1992.

The trial began late due to problems with the transport bring Mr Aziz to the court. Then, shortly after the session finally started, it was adjourned until 20 May.

Eight defendants

Aziz and Chemical Ali, who is already on death row after being convicted of genocide for overseeing the killings of Kurdish villagers in 1988, are the two most high profile defendants in the latest trial.

The trial will be presided over by Kurdish judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, who sentenced Saddam Hussein to death in 2006 for his role in the Dujail killings in 1982. Before his indictment, Aziz was questioned as a witness several times by judges of the Tribunal trying Hussein and other top aides for genocide and crimes against humanity. He insisted that the long-time leader was not guilty of any crime. Very little has been heard of Aziz since his surrender in 2003. He is said to be in poor health and to have suffered two heart attacks.

Tariq Aziz (1936), originally named Mikhail Yahunna, joined the Baath Party as one of its early members. Born to a Catholic family he was one of the few non-Muslim members of the party. After joining the party, he changed his name to Tariq Aziz (meaning "Glorious Path") to alleviate Arab opposition to his Christian background. Following the 1963 Baath coup, he ran the party's main newspaper and in the mid-1970s he was Minister of Information.

He subsequently became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The cigar-smoking Aziz, with his mastery of English, soon became one of the regime's best-known figures in the outside world. He was, among other things, responsible for the restoration of diplomatic relations with the US in the 1980's and managed to achieve American support for Iraq's war with Iran.

With Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, ties with the western allies soon vanished, and Aziz took charge of defending Saddam Hussein's acts of aggression. When tensions rose again in 2002 Aziz, as Prime Minister, unsuccessfully tried to counter US accusations of concealing weapons of mass destruction. He surrendered to the United States in April 2003.

The Iraqi High Tribunal is mandated to bring to trial former officials accused of committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Many international human rights law groups have criticised the Tribunal for a lack of international legal standards and fair trial proceedings, and for the existence of the death penalty under Iraqi law. Moreover the United States is said to be playing too great a role in the foundation, financing, and operation of the Tribunal. Most human rights organisations and the UN have refused to cooperate with the Tribunal.

Source: Radio Netherlands