Thursday 21 January 2010

Obama Urged to Free Iraq's Tareq Aziz


Almanar

20/01/2010 A lawyer for Iraq's jailed ex-deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz, hospitalized after suffering a stroke, on Wednesday urged US President Barack Obama to free the 73-year-old on humanitarian grounds.

"I call on American President Obama to release my client from jail for humanitarian reasons so we can move him out of Iraq and save his life," Amman-based lawyer Badie Aref told AFP.

"I telephoned the Americans (in Iraq) today, and they told me his condition is stable but refused to give me any details. I fear for his life. I heard he lost the ability to speak and that his health is deteriorating."

Aref said he was also trying to contact the Vatican through French and Italian lawyers to help release Aziz, who hails from a Chaldean Catholic family.

The lawyer said on Sunday that Aziz has been moved from jail to an American military hospital in the US base at Balad, 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Baghdad, after a stroke on Friday.
(AFP)


River to Sea
 Uprooted Palestinian

No comments: