[Published: Sunday August 08 2010]
Tariq Aziz defends Saddam Hussein
Baghdad, 08 Aug-(ANA)-Former Iraqi deputy PM Tariq Aziz has staunchly defended Saddam Hussein in an interview with UK The Guardian newspaper.
Interviewed by the UK daily in his Iraq prison cell, Aziz said the West was wrong about the former Iraqi president.
"He is a man who history will show served his country," he said, adding that Iraq was now much worse off.
He also criticised US President Barack Obama for pushing forward with the US troop withdrawal, saying he was "leaving Iraq to the wolves".
Aziz was the face of Saddam Hussein's regime on the world stage for many years.
In his first interview since he was captured shortly after the fall of Baghdad more than seven years ago, Aziz said that pulling out US combat troops before the country was stable would be lethal for Iraq.
"We are all victims of America and Britain," he was quoted as saying. "They killed our country in many ways. When you make a mistake you need to correct a mistake, not leave Iraq to its death." (ANA)
FA/ANA/08 August 2010------- |