Jailed former foreign minister sees family

From correspondents in BaghdadAugust 21, 2005

THE family of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz saw him in prison for the first time overnight, his sister said.Saddam Hussein's minister was jailed after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

Aziz, detained in Iraq, met his wife Violet, daughters Zainab and Saja, his sister Amal and her son Mazen, his sister said in Baghdad.

"He is tired but his spirits picked up when he saw us, after two-and-a-half years away," she said, adding that the visit lasted for only half an hour.

She said families visited other detainees today, but declined to give more details. Aziz's family will return to Amman tomorrow, she said.

It was not clear why US forces, who have physical custody over detained senior former regime members, allowed the family to visit now. Iraqi authorities have legal custody over the men.

Aziz's lawyer Badia Aref said last week he expected his client, who is in his late sixties, to be released from jail without being put on trial.

Aref says he has been getting more access to Aziz, a Christian who was the public face of Saddam's regime abroad, from US authorities in the last few weeks.

No formal charges have yet been brought against Aziz, who Aref said had been questioned by the US military exhaustively in 152 sessions.

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