AMMAN - Tareq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's jailed right-hand men, has issued a handwritten plea asking the international community to ensure he receives a fair trial, his son told AFP on Monday.
The former Iraqi deputy prime minister, the face of Iraq under Saddam's regime, is being investigated for crimes against humanity.
Aziz gave the message, written in English, to his Iraqi lawyer when he was interrogated recently by a UN panel investigating corruption in Iraq's oil-for-food programme, his son Ziad Aziz said.
"To the world public opinion: We hope that you will help us ... We need fair treatment, a fair investigation and finally, a fair trial. Please help us," reads the message, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
The note is written on the pages of his lawyer's pocket calendar.
"We have been (text not clear) for a long time and we have been out of our families, no contacts or phones, no letters, even no parcels sent to us by our families and not given to us," Aziz wrote.
Ziad Aziz, who has been living with the rest of his family in Jordan since April 2003, said his father was in failing health. He said the family had not had any news from Aziz in six months.
Tareq Aziz surrendered in April 2003 after Baghdad fell to the Americans and has since made only one brief appearance in court in July 2004.
03/14/2005 13:18 GMT