Mystery of Aziz and the Russian

The Sunday Times ^ | April 27, 2003 | Hala Jaber

[MadIvan]

HOURS before American troops first entered Baghdad, Saddam Hussein’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, went to his information ministry for a secret meeting with the Russian ambassador.

The appointment with Vladimir Titorenko was set for 1pm on April 9. Two hours later there was no sign of the Russian envoy and Aziz left the ministry. The fluent English speaker would not be seen again until he handed himself over to US forces in Baghdad last Thursday.

“He was expecting a very important answer from the Russian government through their ambassador in Baghdad,” said one official. It may, he believed, have been related either to Aziz’s own future or, more intriguingly, to that of Saddam Hussein.

Titorenko may have been rattled by his own experience that week. Three days earlier he had been part of a convoy that came under fire from American forces on the outskirts of Baghdad, apparently as it was fleeing the city.

Aziz, one of the few Christians in Saddam’s regime, is the most prominent of the senior Iraqis held. He was designated the eight of spades in the “most wanted” cards distributed to US troops — making him number 43 of the 55 on the list.

Little has emerged, however, of what Aziz, described by one former CIA analyst as “the symbol of this vile regime”, has revealed to his captors, or of whether he has struck a deal.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, indicated the legal status of the captives remains uncertain. “The lawyers will figure that out,” he said. He ruled out sending them or other Iraqi prisoners to the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the Pentagon is holding 600 “detainees” in its war against terror — most of whom were captured in Afghanistan.

The Home Office yesterday rejected as “ridiculous” reports that Aziz could be offered asylum in Britain in return for information.

[MadIvan]

Hmmm.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[TrueBeliever9]

Thank you for all your wonderful posts. I read your finds regularly. In this article they call Taziz a Christian, and, indeed, I have heard him referred to as a Christian on television coverage. Tazis is not a Christian. He is a traitor to everything that Y'shua stands for. For 30 years he was devoted to Saddam - not Y'shua.

[bert]

Is there to be a meeting between Tariq and Rummy? Tomorrow??

[SevenofNine]

OHHH Ivan Russia ambasseror meeting with Taziz Inquiroring minds want to know honey

AHHHHH for the record it is known fact that Taziz was Saddam's version of Tom Hagen from Godfather movies

[prairiebreeze]

The Russkie was a "no-show", having already been rattled by his convoy being attacked earlier by coalition forces. Perhaps he was busily saying "feets don't fail me now!" Heh

Of course the article also contains the obligatory reference to Aziz being a Christian.

Prairie

[MadIvan]

The Ba'ath party is socialist. It's highly unlikely you're a good socialist and a good Christian at the same time.

Regards, Ivan

[ewing]

Sound like the work of Condi Rice again... (fluent in the language and diplomacy)

[prairiebreeze]

Bingo. But every article from every news source I've read has to make this distinction about Aziz. It's the new sources I'm crabbing at.

Prairie

[SevenofNine]

Ewing does Condi Speak Russian

I know she is expert on Russian affairs and Classical piano player

I just wonder is she fluent in Russian maybe she told Vlad where to go in Russian

COULD HAPPEN

You don't tick off Sister

[Steve Eisenberg]

The Home Office yesterday rejected as “ridiculous” reports that Aziz could be offered asylum in Britain in return for information.

That's for sure. There is no way that Saddam trusted a Christian, even a phoney nominal Christian, to secrets he would not have needed to do his job, which was to lie to foreign governments. What do people think? That Saddam had Aziz tour where ever they had the nuclear centrifuges?

And thanks MadIvan for posting an excellent article.

[annyokie]

[billorites]

"obligatory reference to Aziz being a Christian"

I presume he has recently been rediscovering the power of prayer.

[The Great Satan]

HOURS before American troops first entered Baghdad, Saddam Hussein’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, went to his information ministry for a secret meeting with the Russian ambassador.

And, a few hours after that meeting, a bleary-eyed Saddam Hussein emerged from hiding with his son Qusay at his side, to greet a cheering Baghdad crowd and make a valedictory speech -- a speech in which he referred to the Iraqis as a "conquered people," and reassured his followers that, despite this "day of despair," they would be rewarded in heaven. And then, he, his two sons and his entire cabinet vanished.

[aristeides]

Did Titorenko really go back to Baghdad after the convoy he was in was fired on before it crossed the border into Syria?

[aristeides]

Condi Rice is indeed said to speak fluent Russian.

[browardchad]

According to Pravda, Titorenko was in Damascus, March 8 and 9, planning to return to Moscow. The convoy was fired upon on March 6, and the injured driver was first hospitalized in Iraq before they moved him to Damascus.

[piasa]

The convoy was fired upon in April, not March.

[cgk]

Please add me to your ping list. :) thank you.