Aziz trial revenge tactic, backers say

BAGHDAD, April 30 (UPI) -- The commencement of the war crimes trial for former Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz inspired cries of victor's justice and Christian oppression.

The Iraqi High Tribunal convened Tuesday in the prosecution of Tariq Aziz, the only Christian to serve in the cabinet of Saddam Hussein. He stands accused, along with Ali Hassan "Chemical Ali" al-Majid, of executing 42 businessmen who protested rising food prices under U.N. sanctions.

Sabbar al-Douri, who served in the Ministry of Information under Saddam Hussein, accused the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of harboring a policy of revenge against former Saddam officials, Gulf News said Wednesday.

"I believe that (SIIC) wants revenge from Aziz because most of the merchants were Shiites," he said.

Others told the newspaper they viewed the prosecution of Aziz as retaliation for his refusal to testify against Saddam Hussein during the trial of the former dictator for atrocities committed against the Kurdish population in the late 1980s.

Still others said the trial was a sign U.S. strategists in the post-Saddam era neglected the concerns of the Iraqi Christian Church regarding Aziz.

Gulf News said the head of the tribunal will likely be Rauof Abdul Rahman, a Kurdish judge who sentenced Saddam to death.

Judges Wednesday postponed the Aziz trial until May 20 to give the defendants more time to meet with their lawyers.