Scotty From UK - Scotland, joined Dec 1999, 1875 posts, RR: 3 Posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 21 hours ago) and read 1006 times:
Reports as yet unconfirmed from Bulgaria seem to indicate that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has defected or has been killed in a defection attempt.
TechRep From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 21 hours ago) and read 1000 times:
Aziz was the only Christian on the Saddam regime. This was a smart move on his part, since he was able to move abroad more he had more chances to strike deals away from Saddam's prying eye's.
Jaysit From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 20 hours ago) and read 881 times:
Chris Hitchens will be elated !
Saddam had imprisoned and killed members of Aziz's family, to keep Aziz in line with the regime's policy. Aziz was one of the few members of his government who could present a rational, sophisticated face to the world.
TechRep From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 19 hours ago) and read 805 times:
Andreas,
Tariq is the only Christian in Saddams Inner Circle. He is Catholic.
Qusay
President's younger son, 36. Heir apparent and a trusted confidant.He has wide-ranging powers over Iraq's military apparatus, including the Republican Guard, intelligence and internal security.
Saddam's kitchen cabinet keeps quiet
Abed Hamid Mahmoud
Saddam Hussein's personal secretary, who comes from his home town, Tikrit.
Ali Hassan al-Majid
The president's cousin is known as 'chemical Ali' for his involvement in atrocities against the Kurds.A leading participant in the 1996 family massacre after President Saddam's son-in-law, Hussein Kamil, defected to Jordan, betrayed Iraq's weapons secrets, and then returned to Baghdad.
Ezzat Ibrahim
Deputy chairman of the revolutionary command council, close to Saddam Hussein.
Tariq Aziz
Deputy prime minister, has survived as an adviser for more than 20 years. Mr Aziz was born to a Christian family in 1936. Some attribute his survival to hsi lack of a power base in Iraq, which means he presents no threat to President Saddam.
Taha Yassin Ramadan
Hawkish vice-president, one of Saddam Hussein's key foreign policy advisers.
Naji Sabri
Foreign minister and a key member of President Saddam's inner circle.
USAFHummer From United States of America, joined May 2000, 10685 posts, RR: 54 Reply 9, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 19 hours ago) and read 755 times:
Could someone post a link to a news article about this??
Greg
Chief A.net college football stadium self-pic guru
Asked to confirm the rumours, Nabez Rashid Ahmad, the deputy director for the KDP Sulaymaniyah branch, replied: "He's in KDP-controlled land."
He gave his location as the Irbil region, but gave no details on when, where or how the purported surrender took place.
Ismail Sayer, an Iraqi opposition figure in the Democratic Platform of Iraq also said in a statement faxed from Sofia, Bulgaria, that Aziz had given himself up.
"Tariq Aziz has escaped from Baghdad to the north region," Sayer said in a statement.
However, the KDP spokesman in the northern city of Irbil, Fawzi Hariri, said: "We've heard the reports and we don't confirm them."
Cfalk From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 12, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 699 times:
CNN just reported on the rumor. There is nothing at this time to confirm this event, so treat it as nothing more than a rumor.
Remember that Aziz is a committed member of the Baath party for many, many years, and a close confident of Saddam. I find the likelyhood of his defection to be very, very low.
N79969 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 13, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 667 times:
I agree with Charles. This is a very specific rumor though. If it was a defection, I would not be surprised that the allies are keeping absolutely silent about it. Just speculating...carry on.
JetService From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 4798 posts, RR: 13 Reply 14, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 657 times:
Racko From Germany, joined Nov 2001, 4838 posts, RR: 21 Reply 16, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 17 hours ago) and read 634 times:
A German TV correspodent in Baghdad has just reported that she personally saw Aziz today in Baghdad, apparently he visited the few remaining journalists there to show them that he's still with his government. The Video uplinks have been closed down in Baghdad btw.
Cfalk From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 17, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 17 hours ago) and read 619 times:
The Video uplinks have been closed down in Baghdad btw.
I don't know if that will make a difference anymore. Nowadays TV reporters carry around those videophone uplinks which go directly to the satellite. Not very good quality pictures, but it works.
Agrodemm From Greece, joined Apr 2000, 401 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (10 years 2 months 1 week 17 hours ago) and read 570 times:
ABout an hour ago Tareq Aziz gave a press conference from Bagdad
It was shown on local TV.
He seemed alive and well and repeated the usual theses of Iraq.
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