Saddam aide Aziz sentenced to death by hanging

BAGHDAD - Tariq Aziz, the dapper diplomat who was the highest-ranking Christian in Saddam Hussein's regime, was sentenced yesterday to death by hanging for persecuting members of the Shia religious parties that now dominate the country.

The decision to execute the 74-year-old Aziz, who has suffered a series of strokes in prison, shows the depth of hatred among the current Shia leadership for top figures in a Baathist regime that sent hundreds of thousands of opponents to death or exile.

Among Shia in the vast, eastern Baghdad slum called Sadr City, a gallows death for one of Saddam's ardent aides was considered a fitting end.

"This is a fair judicial court ruling against those whose hands are still bloodied," said Kamil Jassim, a 32-year-old, a teacher. Many Sunnis, the minority Muslim sect that dominated Iraq under Saddam, questioned whether the death sentence was merely revenge masquerading as justice.

"It is an unfair trial and unfair verdict," said Jameel Sahib Ali, 50, a merchant in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

Aziz was wearing a blue suit and his trademark oversized glasses as he sat alone in court. He frequently grasped the handrail that surrounds the defendant's box and bowed his head as the judge read out the verdict.

No date has been set for the hanging. Aziz's lawyer has 30 days to appeal the sentence handed down by a court responsible for prosecuting crimes committed by the former regime. The verdict came two months after Aziz was transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody.