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Tariq Aziz Quotes

Tariq Aziz was Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s when both were activists for the then-banned Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Although he was an Arab nationalist he was in fact an ethnic Assyrian, and a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church.Because of security concerns, Hussein rarely left Iraq, so Aziz would often represent Iraq at high-level diplomatic summits. What the United States wanted, he averred, was not "regime change" in Iraq but rather "region change". He said that the Bush Administration's reasons for war were "oil and Israel."After surrendering to American forces on 24 April 2003, Aziz was held in prison, first by American forces and subsequently by the Iraqi government, in Camp Cropper in western Baghdad. He was acquitted of some charges on 1 March 2009 following a trial, but was sentenced to 15 years on 11 March 2009 for the executions of 42 merchants found guilty of profiteering in 1992 and another 7 years for relocating Kurds.On 26 October 2010, he was sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, which sparked regional and international condemnation from Iraqi bishops and other Iraqis, the Vatican, the United Nations, the European Union and the human rights organization Amnesty International, as well as various governments around the world, such as Russia. On 28 October 2010, it was reported that Aziz, as well as 25 fellow prison inmates, had begun a hunger strike to protest the fact that they could not receive their once-monthly visit from friends and relatives, which was normally set for the last Friday of each month.Iraqi President Jalal Talabani declared that he would not sign Aziz's execution order, thus commuting his sentence to indefinite imprisonment. Aziz remained in custody the rest of his life and died of a heart attack in the city of Nasiriyah on 5 June 2015, aged 79.

✵ 28. April 1936 – 5. June 2015
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Tariq Aziz: 6   quotes 0   likes

Famous Tariq Aziz Quotes

“It is imperative that there is intervention into our dire situation and treatment … We hope that you will help us. We have been in prison for a long time and we have been cut from our families. No contacts, no phones, no letters. Even the parcels sent to us by our families are not given to us. We need a fair treatment, a fair investigation and finally a fair trial. Please help us”

Tariq Aziz

British newspaper, The Observer, published letters in Arabic and English addressing to "world public opinion", pleading for international help to end "his dire situation", The Guardian (May 28, 2005), "The extraordinary pleas of Saddam's right-hand man" http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/29/iraq.antonybarnett

“He didn't move. He couldn't talk. He didn't say a word to her. He just looked at her. It is so sad that he had to go this way”

Tariq Aziz

Daughter of Tariq Aziz, Zenaib Aziz, referring to death of Tariq Aziz... mentioned on BBC News (June 5, 2015), "Tariq Aziz, ex-Saddam Hussein aide, dies after heart attack" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33021771
About

“The Dujail case is part of a chain of assassination operations against officials and I am one of the victims, the president of the state in any country, if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those who conduct and help this operation. According to the law, people who support this assassination can also be convicted.”

Tariq Aziz

BBC News (May 24, 2006), "Aziz testifies for Saddam defence" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5011164.stm

“These Americans are cowards, because if they were courageous, they would have confronted us face-to-face, rather than coming at us from behind”

Tariq Aziz

attributed to Tareq Aziz in a July, 2007 interview http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1516.htm with former Iraqi press secretary Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen

“I'm a victim of a criminal act conducted by this party, which is in power right now. So put it on trial. Its leader was the prime minister and his deputy is the prime minister right now and they killed innocent Iraqis in 1980”

Tariq Aziz

About the Dujail Attack, wcbstv.com (May 24, 2006), "Takes Stand In Saddam Trial" https://web.archive.org/web/20071025045024/http://wcbstv.com/topstories/Tariq.Aziz.Saddam.2.268188.html

“Do you expect me, after all my history as a militant and as one of the Iraqi leaders, to go to an American prison – to go to Guantanamo? I would rather die”

Tariq Aziz

Before the Invasion of Iraq, BBC News (April 24, 2003), "Tariq Aziz in U.S. Custody; New York Moves Closer to Rebuilding at Ground Zero" http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0304/24/se.00.html.

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