Tarik Aziz execution not dependant on US presence

Iraq's government has denied a report that it will execute Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein regime's most prominent figures, after U.S. troops withdraw at the end of the year. The government’s spokesman Haidar Al-Sa'di said in a statement sent to ‘Arabstoday’ that the execution of those convicted of crimes committed against the Iraqi people is not linked to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, but rather to the issuance of decrees of the Republic for convicted criminals," assuring that "executions is not linked to a political decision or recommendation from anyone.” Al-Sa'di denied a report that the Iraqi government will execute Tariq Aziz, after U.S. troops withdraw at the end of the year, stressing that will happen when the president's office signs death warrants. However, an advisor to Iraq's Prime Minister, Saad Al-Muttalib, was quoted in a television report as saying, "It will definitely take place, and it will take place after the Americans leave Iraq." Aziz, who is 75, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for crimes against humanity and then separately handed a death sentence by a top tribunal for "persecution of Islamic parties" Aziz served as the country's foreign minister and, as its most senior Christian official, was the international face of the regime during its most tyrannical years.