The health of Saddam Hussein's foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, is said to be "normal" after an incident at the jail where he is being held near Baghdad. He was moved to a hospital in Balad for a
His son Ziad said the 71-year-old ex-minister should not be in custody at all, having never been charged. Mr Aziz had been due to face questioning by a judge on Wednesday. He was being investigated over the murder of Muslim clerics following the first Gulf War in 1991.
| "And now, Mr. Aziz, we wish to ask you some questions." "Oh my stars, I feel .. faint!" |
| Wonder if he cracked his head when he 'fainted'. Genuine faints generally do have a head-thump as part of the drill, whereas the fake 'pirouettes' generally set the noggin down easily on the hard cement. |
In a statement released to the BBC News website on Saturday, the coalition said he had fallen during a walk. "All studies came back normal for a person Mr Aziz's age... and [he] is currently in the same health and with the same functional status as he was prior to his fall," it added.
| "Until we hang him," it added. |