Aziz stands trial over executions

Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is set to face trial over the execution of dozens of merchants in 1992.

Aziz, who was the public face of Saddam Hussein's rule and the only Christian in Saddam's inner circle, surrendered to US forces in April 2003, about two weeks after the fall of Baghdad.

The trial deals with the execution of 42 merchants accused by Saddam's government of being behind a sharp increase in food prices when the country was under strict UN sanctions.

The lawyer representing Aziz has said the charges against the 72-year-old are baseless.

Among Aziz's co-defendants are Saddam's half-brother Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and the dictator's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," who has been sentenced to death for his role in a military campaign in which thousands of Kurds were killed.

A judge with the Iraqi High Tribunal, set up to try former members of Saddam's government, said the charges against the defendants would include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

If convicted, they could face a sentence of death by hanging.

Saddam was executed in December 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men and boys after a 1982 assassination attempt.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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