IRAQ-PALESTINE COMMITTEE STATEMENT: Comrade Tariq Aziz

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October 30, 2010

“We will welcome the Americans to Baghdad. Unfortunately, we’ve run out of candy, so we will have to substitute bullets.” – Tariq Aziz, March 2003

We all are stunned and saddened by the abrupt announcement that Tariq Aziz has been condemned to hang. He was found guilty on bogus charges by the illegitimate court in Baghdad that tried various Ba’ath Party officials, including President Saddam Hussein. At that time, he received a sentence of 22 years in prison, assuring he would die before he again saw daylight. Now, he is sentenced to hang.

Tariq Aziz was a man of many skills. He was eloquent and represented the Ba’ath government internationally with great aplomb. Once imprisoned by the US, he was badgered into testifying against Saddam Hussein at the president’s equally phony trial. All he had to do was take the stand and make a few discrediting remarks about Saddam Hussein and he probably would have been freed soon after. On the stand, Tariq Aziz did not denigrate Saddam. In fact, he praised him and said he was privileged to be a part of the Ba’ath administration. He refused to capitulate when he could have saved his own skin.

The following is an interview conducted by Malcom Lagauche with Ibrahim Ebeid, advisor to the Iraq Pales tinian Committee, on May 9, 2008. Ebeid worked side-by-side with Tariq Aziz on many occasions and was a true comrade and friend to him. The interview begins with Lagauche speaking of the upcoming trial of Tariq Aziz in 2008.

Reminiscing Tariq Aziz

Tariq Aziz is about to go on trial for the murder of 42 people in Iraq in 1992. The verdict, as with all the so- called trials of the Ba’ath regime members, is a foregone conclusion. Aziz will be found guilty.

If you remember, the judge who sentenced Saddam Hussein to hang, Abdel-Rahman, quickly left Iraq shortly after the murder of the president and claimed asylum in Great Britain. Since then, little or nothing has been heard about him. But, mysteriously he returned to Iraq and will be the judge in Tariq Aziz’ case.

The first time I saw Tariq Aziz on U.S. television was in the aftermath of Desert Storm. His voice was the only one that made sense of the political scene at the time. For once, I heard the truth about many items that had been twisted beyond recognition by the U.S. administration and media.

Aziz’ eloquence in the English language intrigued me. Most U.S. government spokespeople could have used an elementary school refresher course in English, yet there was an Iraqi who, like Baghdad Bob, spoke better English than the president of the United States.

The last time I saw Tariq Aziz on U.S. television was a few months before the illegal March 2003 invasion. At the time, the U.S. was calling the Iraqi government a supporter of global terrorism and also began to mention the Iraq/Al-Qaida link. The accusations were believed by the U.S. public. To this day, many Americans believe Saddam was in cahoots with Bin-Laden in bringing down the U.S. trade center.

Tariq Aziz gave an extraordinary explanation of the difference between terrorism and revolution. He added that terrorism was the enemy of revolutionary movements. The TV program appeared at 3:00 a.m., so few people watched it. And, if more viewed the presentation, most would not have understood Aziz’ eloquent offering.

Shortly before the 2003 invasion, many U.S. pundits said that the Iraqi people would welcome the U.S. soldiers with flowers and candy. Aziz took another view. He stated, “We will welcome the Americans in Baghdad. Unfortunately, we’ve run out of candy and will have to substitute bullets.” His assessment was far more accurate than those of the myriad retired generals who painted a rosy picture of the impending military action.

There is much information about his savage treatment in prison after he turned himself in to U.S. authorities, so I will not delve into the issue here. I would like to publish an interview with a former comrade and friend of Tariq Aziz. He is Ibrahim Ebeid, a Palestinian-American activist.

ML: When did you first meet Tariq Aziz?

IE: I first met him in Baghdad in 1973. That was my first trip to Baghdad from the United States. I was a guest. I knew him before, but not in person.

ML: What was your first impression?

IE: He was a young man. Very intelligent. He was my age so we related together

When I joined the Party in the early 1950s, most of my generation also joined the movement. I was living in Palestine at the time. What I heard from people is that Tariq Aziz joined the movement in the 1950s, even before the Iraqi portion was formally started in Baghdad, when it was underground.

After that, I went almost every year and I saw him frequently. We became friends. When I met Tariq Aziz, he was not in a high leadership position. Later on, he became a member of the leadership of the Iraqi branch of the Party. He was very committed.

ML: Tell us about the well-known assassination attempt against Tariq Aziz in 1980. You have good knowledge of this because you were at the scene on the day of the incident.

IE: I went from the United States to attend a conference on April 1, 1980 at Al-Mustansiriyah University. Thousands of students from the Arab world had assembled to attend various conferences. They were awaiting Tariq Aziz to listen to his speech. Tariq had been scheduled to inaugurate the International Economic Conference, organized by the National Union of Iraqi students, in collaboration with the Asiatic Students Committee.

There was a young Iranian man in the crowd. When Tariq Aziz made his entrance, amid cheers, the Iranian hurled a bomb in his direction.

The president of the Student Union, Mohammed Dabdab, hollered, “Comrade Aziz, a bomb, a bomb!” Everyone threw themselves on the ground. Dabdab and Tariq Aziz were wounded, but two people, a male and a female, were killed.

The Iraqi authorities apprehended the perpetrator right away. According to later statements by pro-Iranians, they intended to kill the “unbeliever” Tariq Aziz

Because of the circumstances, Tariq Aziz was unable to give his speech. He supervised the taking of the injured in the ambulance then he went along with the ambulance and delegated someone else to deliver his speech. They decided to keep the conference going on.

On the day of the assassination attempt, I was there at the university. I talked briefly to Mohammed Dabdab and he asked me to stick around to see Tariq Aziz, but I had to leave to go to a Baghdad hotel to meet with some members of the Arab-American delegation. Minutes after I left, the attack took place.

ML: Did the incident bother Tariq Aziz immensely?

IE: It gave him more strength to continue practicing his principles.

ML: How many times did you meet Tariq Aziz?

IE: Many times. Every time I was in Iraq with a delegation, we went to dinner.

ML: What kind of human being was he?

IE: A very sensitive man. Very friendly. He cared for the people. He never behaved like a high-ranking man. He never looked down at people.

One time, he was speaking to an African-American delegation from the United States and he asked me to sit by him because I knew the people who were invited. He forgot the English word “avoid.” He asked me in Arabic and I told him. Then, he told the crowd, “You know, sometimes you forget the simplest words. Thanks to my colleague Ibrahim, I remembered it.” That’s the way he was, a very humble man. He remained that way even after he took high command in the Party in the Foreign Relations Bureau and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

ML: Many naysayers say that Tariq Aziz should be tried because he was part of Saddam’s “inner circle.” What’s your take on that?

IE: What I would say is that Saddam never had an “inner circle.” He had a leadership. The members of the regional leadership of Iraq were also the members of the Revolutionary Council. Every time they had a meeting, the whole Party met to decide the policies for Iraq. Saddam never took action on his own. They used to discuss things and the majority ruled. We read and hear that Saddam was a dictator. He was a leader, not a dictator and he was very intelligent in his leadership.

When he used to visit people in their homes, he used to ask them what they think, what they need and what the government should do for them. He used to take the notes himself. If he was hungry, he used to ask what they had to eat and sit down with them.

ML: What do you think about the U.S. treatment of Tariq Aziz and what’s the reason for the Americans to treat him in such a way?

IE: The reason is very obvious. A major reason for the war was to eradicate the leadership of Iraq and the Ba’ath Party. They went after the leadership because they think that by executing them, they killed the spirit of the Party and the Party would become weak and the hope for Arab unity and the radical changes the people called for would be diminished. That’s why they came up with a new name for the area: the New Middle East. We don’t even call the area the Middle East. We hate that term. We call it the Arab Homeland

ML: Has this backfired on the U.S.?

IE: Of course. And you can see how the Party in the Arab world after Saddam’s execution has spread like fire.

ML: Not one person in the Ba’ath leadership turned on Saddam after the 2003 invasion. Some have been executed and some are awaiting the gallows. Each could have won his freedom and a handsome payday for testifying against Saddam, yet they chose death. Tariq Aziz, when he testified at Saddam’s trial, told the world he was proud to have served in his regime. This upset many observers because some in the U.S. administration wanted him to denigrate the president. In your opinion, why did the regime members, including Tariq Aziz, show this incredible loyalty?

IE: They were committed to their principles. The leadership in the Party were elected according to their merit in the struggle.

Don’t forget, it was not only the U.S. that wanted to destroy the leadership of Iraq. Iran became a partner in the occupation of Iraq. Maybe they are getting more benefits than the United States.

ML: What will Tariq Aziz’ legacy be in the Arab world?

IE: He will go down as a well-respected person, whether they execute him or indirectly kill him by keeping him in jail until he dies. They don’t give him proper medicine and they don’t treat him well. They want him dead.

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Ibrahim Ebeid in meeting with President Saddam Hussein. Ebeid is the third person on Saddam’s left.

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Hikmat al Azzani (fourth from left) and Ibrahim Ebeid (in white suit) in Moscow, 1977. They delivered an agreement between the Iraq Ba’ath Party and the Soviet Union.

Ibrahim Ebeid’s Response to the Announcment of Tariq Aziz Receiving the Death Penalty

(October 30, 2010) The news of death sentences against Mr. Tariq Aziz and his comrades, Saadoun Shaker, Abdul Ghani Abdul Ghafoor, Dr.Sabawi Ibrahim al Hassan and Abed Hammoud did not surprise us. These sentences took place to fortify the criminal policies of the occupying powers to rid Iraq of its capable and experienced leaders to rule and rebuild Iraq after the illegal invasion of 2003.The judge who passed the assassination sentence was very rude; the expression on his face indicated hate and grudge. Three other judges refused to agree to authorize the sentence but they were forced to sign. We do not know even if there was kangaroo trial or not, but for sure his lawyers only found out about the sentence through the news media. This is American democracy exported through conquest and under the barrels of guns

The members of the legitimate leadership of Iraq experienced severe torture and inhumane treatment. The martyred president of Iraq was mistreated and tortured and the martyred vice president, Mr. Taha Yassin Ramadan, had to treat his wounds with water and salt. No one was spared the abuse of the malpractice of US democracy. Some of the detainees died from torture, or deprivation of medical care or adequate nourishment. Some became very frail and died in their cells that were not fit for animals, let alone human beings.

Mr. Tariq Aziz, the legitimate deputy prime minister of the legal government of Iraq is no exception. His health is deteriorating very fast and he is rapidly approaching his death in a small decrepit cell.

The health of Mr. Aziz is very grave. He suffered strokes. He has no teeth. He cannot speak clearly as a result of the strokes, diabetes and lack of teeth. He was sentenced to death by a court established by the United States to eliminate the leaders of Iraq and all the brains that were behind Iraq political and economic progress. Thousands of scientists, doctors, and educators were killed or forced to leave Iraq and Iraq was left for imported criminals to master the art of killing and daylight robberies. Schools, hospitals and all he institutions of Iraq are destroyed. Ignorance and illiteracy is spreading widely under the new generations of US “democracy and liberation”

Tariq Aziz never held any administrative post; he was a diplomat representing Iraq abroad. He was brilliant and respected locally and internationally, and he was a victim who was marked for assassination by the sectarian Dawa Party of Maliki. He was wounded at Al Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad while other students were killed by members of Maliki’s party.

I had the honor to know Mr. Aziz and Mr. Abdul Ghani Abdul Ghafoor. They are intelligent, well-educated, and humble, and so are the others. They lived among the people and for the people and they are sacrificing their lives for the liberation of Iraq.

Tareq Aziz did not surrender to the Americans, as the news media say, but his sister informed the Americans where he was about with the intention of saving his life from a heart attack he suffered.

The butchers in Baghdad not only killed and tortured Sunni Muslims. Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, a prime minister under Saddam was tortured to death at a U.S. jail in Iraq on December 2, 2005 at age 67. By the way he was a Shiite. Al Arabia TV broadcast a photo showing a US soldier stepping over his body.

The only reason Tariq Aziz will be hanged is revenge. He is not a criminal. His accusers and the cowardly hangman are the real criminals. He will die with dignity, like Iraq’s president did in 2006. In a reversal of places, the hangmen in 2006 wore masks, while the president refused to don a piece of cloth over his head as he took his last breath. Tariq Aziz and President Saddam Hussein have set a remarkable standard of integrity that all freedom fighters in the world admire. Their legacies will long outlive those of the quislings in Baghdad and the US imperialist actions.

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Iraq’s fallen leaders. Of the above, five have been murdured and two (Sultan Hashim Ahmad and Hussein Rasheed) await the gallows. Top row, left to right: Saddam Hussein — Iraqi President; Ali Hassan al-Majeed — Iraqi General; Awad Hammad Bandar al-Saadoun — Head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court, Bottom row, left to right: Barzan al-Tikriti — Iraqi Intelligence Service; Hussein Rasheed al-Tikriti — Secretary of the General Command of the Iraqi Armed Forces; Taha Ramadan — Iraqi Vice President; Sultan Hashim Ahmad — Iraqi Minister of Defense