By SIR July 14, 2010
“It is certainly not up to us, as men of the Church, to pass opinions on such facts of political interest. All I can say is that one should be just and compassionate”. This is how the patriarchal vicar of Baghdad, mgr. Shlemon Warduni, comments for SIR the US forces’ handing over Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man Tarek Aziz to the Iraqi authorities.
The fact was reported by Aziz’s lawyer, Badie Aref, who said, from Amman, that his client’s life “is now in grave danger. He fears he may be killed or be denied essential medical assistance”. Aziz, who is Christian, surrendered to the US in 2003, just after Saddam Hussein’s dethronement. Tried for his involvement in the regime, he was sentenced by the Iraqi Special Court to seven years in prison.
“Justice must run its course, but mercy must not be forgotten – the Chaldean prelate adds –. The special circumstances in which people were forced to act under the old regime, when they could not dissent or express any contrary opinion, should be borne in mind. Personally, I think he would not have wanted the war. He was widely respected by the governments of that time”. In 2003, Aziz was received by John Paul II, who worked long and hard to avert the risk of a war. Aref did not rule out the option to go to the Vatican and plead Aziz’s humanitarian cause.
“It is certainly not up to us, as men of the Church, to pass opinions on such facts of political interest. All I can say is that one should be just and compassionate”. This is how the patriarchal vicar of Baghdad, mgr. Shlemon Warduni, comments for SIR the US forces’ handing over Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man Tarek Aziz to the Iraqi authorities.
The fact was reported by Aziz’s lawyer, Badie Aref, who said, from Amman, that his client’s life “is now in grave danger. He fears he may be killed or be denied essential medical assistance”. Aziz, who is Christian, surrendered to the US in 2003, just after Saddam Hussein’s dethronement. Tried for his involvement in the regime, he was sentenced by the Iraqi Special Court to seven years in prison.
“Justice must run its course, but mercy must not be forgotten – the Chaldean prelate adds –. The special circumstances in which people were forced to act under the old regime, when they could not dissent or express any contrary opinion, should be borne in mind. Personally, I think he would not have wanted the war. He was widely respected by the governments of that time”. In 2003, Aziz was received by John Paul II, who worked long and hard to avert the risk of a war. Aref did not rule out the option to go to the Vatican and plead Aziz’s humanitarian cause.
