A rchive Date
[ 25-04-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/04/24/72537-ap.html
Iraq's Tariq Aziz apparently in U.S. hands, Pentagon officials say
Thu, April 24, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. forces in Iraq apparently have taken custody of Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy prime minister, Pentagon officials said Thursday. No details on the capture or surrender were immediately available. Aziz has been one of the best-known members of the Iraqi leadership. On the U.S. list of the 55 most-wanted members of the former government, he was No. 43.
At the White House, President George W. Bush smiled and gave a thumbs up in response to questions shouted at him about reports of Aziz's capture. Bush responded after arriving on the South Lawn by helicopter following a trip to Ohio.
Two Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believed Aziz was in U.S. custody. Both said they were awaiting confirmation from U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar.
Aziz was perhaps the most-recognized public face of the Iraqi government, other than President Saddam Hussein. He sometimes presented the Iraqi case against accusations by the United States and United Nations. Aziz, the eight of spades in the military's card deck of top Iraqi leaders, was the only Christian in Saddam's inner circle. He served as foreign minister during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and was a frequent spokesman at that time.
Although he was one of Saddam's most loyal aides, Aziz, like most non-Tikritis, had virtually no power, U.S. officials say. That could explain his longevity in Saddam's inner circle: without an independent power base, he posed no threat.
Born in 1936 near the northern city of Mosul, Aziz studied English literature at Baghdad College of Fine Arts and became a teacher and journalist. He joined the Baath party in 1957, working closely with Saddam to overthrow British-imposed monarchy. Aziz changed his name from Mikhail Yuhanna. In Arabic, Tariq Aziz means "glorious past."
He was wounded in a 1980 assassination attempt by an Iranian-backed Islamic fundamentalist group named ad-Dawa Islami, the Islamic Call. Members of the group threw a grenade at him in downtown Baghdad, killing several people. The attack was one of several Saddam blamed on Iran, part of his justification for his expulsion of large numbers of Shiite Muslims and his September 1980 invasion of Iran.
Aziz was instrumental in restoring diplomatic relations with the United States in 1984 after a 17-year break. He had met in 1983 with Donald Rumsfeld, then a private envoy from the president, Ronald Reagan, and now the defence secretary. At the time, the United States backed Iraq as a buffer against Iran's Islamic extremism.
The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Saddam's government for good after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Persian Gulf War. Aziz was a frequent spokesman for Saddam during that war, too, contending Iraq's invasion of its smaller neighbour was justified.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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