BAGHDAD, May 24 (UPI) -- Former Iraq Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's most trusted aides, testified on Saddam's behalf Wednesday at his massacre trial in Baghdad.
The white-haired and weak-looking Aziz spoke of the 1982 massacre of 148 men and boys in the Shiite town of Dujail, and said none of Saddam's seven co-accused ever spoke of it.
However, he defended the crackdown as it had been caused by a failed attempt on Saddam's life and said enforcement of law by the government is not a crime, CNN reported.
"The president of the state in any country, if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those who conduct and help this operation," Aziz said.
Aziz was No. 25 on the list of most-wanted people when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. He was captured and imprisoned.
In 1980, militants with grenades attacked Aziz, killing several civilians near the foreign minister, the BBC reported.
