Former Iraqi deputy PM Tareq Aziz to face court

Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, the public face of Saddam Hussein's rule, is set to face court on Tuesday over the execution of dozens of merchants in 1992.

It will be the first time 72-year-old Aziz, who also served as foreign minister, has answered charges since he surrendered to U.S. forces in April 2003.

The merchants were accused of hiking prices of key goods in breach of state price controls when Iraq was suffering U.N. sanctions imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Aziz's lawyer has said the charges against his client are baseless.

The only Christian in Saddam's inner circle, Aziz shot to prominence in the world media around the time of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing crisis.

He played a starring diplomatic role in the run-up to the Gulf War when he was foreign minister, exhibiting faultless English, strong nerves and negotiating skills.

Seven other defendants in the case before the Iraqi High Tribunal included Saddam's half brothers Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, interior minister when the executions took place, and Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former top security official, court spokesman Aref Shaheen said.

A former trade minister and central bank governor will also face the tribunal.

"There is no credible accusation against Aziz," his lawyer Badia Arif told Reuters. "The prosecution assumes that just because he was a member of (Saddam's) Revolutionary Command Council, which carried out the death sentences, he is guilty."

Another defendant is Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, nicknamed "Chemical Ali". Majeed was sentenced to death last June for his role in Saddam's "Anfal" military campaign in the 1980s, in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed.

Legal arguments have so far held up the execution of Majeed, called "Chemical Ali" by Saddam's opponents for his role in using of poison gas to kill Kurdish villagers.

The Iraqi High Tribunal was set up to try former members of Saddam's government. Saddam was executed in December 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men and boys after a 1982 assassination attempt.

Aziz, who has complained of ill health, has appeared as a witness in earlier trials of former government members.

He is a Chaldean Christian, Iraq's biggest Christian group, and his presence in Saddam's government was often held up as evidence of the former Iraqi leader's religious tolerance.

Besides gaining world attention during the first Gulf War, Aziz featured prominently in Iraq's devastating conflict with Iran from 1980-1988.

He helped win U.S. support for Iraq during that conflict and to forge strong economic ties with the Soviet Union.

Aziz was number 43 on the U.S. most-wanted list of Iraqi officials when he gave himself up to American troops in April 2003, just two weeks after Saddam's rule ended.