6 Aug 2010

Saddam Hussein deputy Tariq Aziz calls for US forces to stay in Iraq

Saddam Hussein's most loyal deputy, Tariq Aziz, has accused Barack Obama of 'leaving Iraq to the wolves' by pressing ahead with a withdrawal of combat troops in the face of festering instability and a surge in violence.

aziz

In his first interview since he was captured shortly after the fall of Baghdad more than seven years ago, Iraq's former deputy prime minister and long-time face to the world said the United States would cause the death of Iraq if it continued to withdraw its combat forces.

"We are all victims of America and Britain," he told the Guardian from his prison cell in Baghdad. "They killed our country in many ways. When you make a mistake you need to correct a mistake, not leave Iraq to its death."

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