WizardOfAz

Iraq Denies Reports of Aziz Defection


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites) denied as "cheap lies" on Wednesday reports that Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz -- one of President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s closest allies -- had defected ahead of a possible U.S.-led invasion.

"Tareq Aziz ... is carrying on with his work in Baghdad," said Uday al-Taei, a senior information ministry official.

"This is only the latest of a series of lies and propaganda against Iraq. We take little notice of these cheap lies."

U.S. officials also denied the rumors, saying that reports Aziz had either defected to U.S. authorities or was shot trying to flee Baghdad were untrue.

"These rumors are just not true," a U.S. official told Reuters.

The rumors affected oil prices in New York trading and also circulated in financial markets as the 8 p.m. Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday) deadline approached that President Bush (news - web sites) set for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq or face war.

In the Kurdish-ruled areas of northern Iraq, official sources scoffed at reports that Kurdish forces were holding Aziz.

"We can confirm he is not in Iraqi Kurdistan," Jalal Talabani, leader of one half of the Iraqi Kurdish region, told reporters in Ankara.

Rumors of the imprisonment, flight or death of members of President Saddam Hussein's administration are not uncommon but have rarely turned out to have any basis in fact.

Aziz was seen in Iraqi television coverage of Tuesday's cabinet meeting with Saddam, and senior diplomatic sources in Baghdad said they had heard nothing to indicate the rumors circulating abroad had any foundation.

Aziz, who won world fame as a tough, eloquent spokesman for Saddam during the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites), is such a senior figure that it would be hard to suppress such news if true, even in Baghdad, diplomats said.

maddogkf

Where Is Aziz? Azz Izz is playing at Mandalay Bay in Vegas next week

Here is their touring schedule for the next few weeks. I remember seeing them play at Club Rio. I always enjoyed seeing them and Walt Richardson and the Morning Star Band

http://www.azzizz.com/Events.html

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SECTION 11

Yeah baby! I love Walt! When he used to play with his full band...man that was a blast.

He used to be at Belo's every Friday but that place closed. Shame.


Ever seen the movie The Fugitive? The scene where they sneak up on that house where the black convict is? The chick that's screaming in the bed is Walt's sister. She sings with him occasionally.

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You can't ride home on a bowl of goat.
I've always said that.

Dback Jon

He's been found....

Aziz dispels defection rumor
Wednesday, March 19, 2003 Posted: 2:15 PM EST (1915 GMT)



Aziz: war would be an "act of colonization."



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz stood before reporters in Baghdad Wednesday to quiet rumors that he had either been shot or had asked for political asylum.

"This is one of the easiest rumors to deny," said Aziz, standing before a podium topped with microphones.

Uncontested reports had been floating around Baghdad Wednesday that Aziz had fled the country the day before the U.S.-set deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down or face an attack.

Aziz blamed the rumors on the U.S.-led coalition. He said people should expect more of the same in the days and months ahead.

"We would like to warn you against cheap psychological rumors," Aziz said. "Don't believe them."

Aziz took a few questions before leaving. He said it is "abundantly clear" that there is no chance for a political solution to solve the crisis in Iraq.

He restated Iraq's insistence that it is ready for war, and that a United States decision to go to war with Iraq would be an "act of colonization, an imperial and unjust aggression against the Middle East" and "not an act of peace."

Aziz also said Bush's demand Monday night that Saddam leave Iraq was an "impossible" request.

He called a U.S. request that Iraqi soldiers and citizens allow coalition forces into Iraq uncontested is "unjust" and gives "an example of the mentality of such an administration. "They have power but no brains."

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R.I.P Tim Minnick

The KING of Cards