Tareq Aziz trial begins at Iraqi High Tribunal

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The trial begins in Iraq on Tuesday of Tareq Aziz, former deputy premier and the international face of the Saddam Hussein regime, on charges related to the execution of 42 Baghdad merchants in 1992.

It is the fourth trial of former regime officials by the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), the court set up to try high-ranking officials under Saddam.

Judge Muneer Haddad from the IHT confirmed to AFP that the trial will begin on Tuesday.

Tareq Aziz and seven others, including "Chemical" Ali Hasan al-Majid, are accused of executing the Baghdad businessmen after blaming them for hiking food prices when Iraq was under UN sanctions.

Prosecutors say the victims were arrested in Baghdad's wholesale markets and executed after a speedy trial in 1992....