Tariq Aziz, deputy to Saddam Hussein, asks to be executed quickly

January 24, 2013: Tariq Aziz, the former deputy to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, plans to ask Pope Bendict XVI to support his wish to be executed promptly, his lawyer reports.

Aziz, who was sentenced to death by an Iraqi panel in 2010 for crimes against humanity, is reportedly suffering from depression as well as physical ailments including diabetes and heart disease. His lawyer quoted Aziz as saying that “I would prefer to be executed rather than stay in this condition.”

The Iraqi leader, a Chaldean Catholic, has frequently sought help from the Vatican since the fall of the Saddam Hussein government in 2003. His plea for a quick execution is unlikely to win the Pope’s support, however. Pope Benedict has argued consistently against the death penalty, and both Vatican officials and Iraqi bishops have urged clemency in the Aziz case.