Family of Tariq Aziz, top Saddam aide, seeks Jordan burial
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A government official says Jordan has approved a request by the family of former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz to bury him in the kingdom.
Funeral details were not known.
Aziz, 79, was Saddam Hussein's staunchest defender to the world and the only Christian in the Iraqi dictator's inner circle. He died Friday after suffering a heart attack in an Iraqi prison.
Aziz had been in prison since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and suffered a series of strokes. He faced execution for his role in a government that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
His family settled in Jordan after Saddam's fall.
The government official said Sunday that Jordan granted a family request for burial, speaking on condition of anonymity because arrangements were not finalized.
Funeral details were not known.
Aziz, 79, was Saddam Hussein's staunchest defender to the world and the only Christian in the Iraqi dictator's inner circle. He died Friday after suffering a heart attack in an Iraqi prison.
Aziz had been in prison since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and suffered a series of strokes. He faced execution for his role in a government that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
His family settled in Jordan after Saddam's fall.
The government official said Sunday that Jordan granted a family request for burial, speaking on condition of anonymity because arrangements were not finalized.