For the execution of 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992, Tareq Aziz is condemned to 15 years in prison. Aziz is former deputy premier of Iraq. The same sentence has been meted to Ali Hassan al-Majid known as Chemical Ali, Saddam’s cousin. The Iraqi Special Tribunal also sentenced to death two half-brothers of executed dictator Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity.

Majid and Aziz are also accused of killing about 2,000 Kurds who were supporters of Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani. Moreover, they are also accused of “using members of the Fayli Kurdish community as guinea pigs for chemicals weapons testing and as human shields during Iraq’s war with neighboring Iran from 1980 to 1988.”

Chemical Ali had been earlier sentenced to death for the crime of genocide over his role in the mass killing of Kurds in 1988. He masterminded and implemented the campaign, ordering chemical gas strikes against civilian targets which killed around 180,000 Kurdish people.

Tarek Aziz, now 72 years old, surrendered and was arrested after the fall of the regime following the war of 2003. He was regarded as the ‘friendly face’ of the Saddam regime. He was known as Saddam’s mouthpiece, and represented the regime in foreign conferences and meetings as he is a fluent English speaker. He is also a Christian.

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Via Yahoo! News