Tariq Aziz Asks Croatia For Asylum

Former Iraqi Former Minister Aziz (file photo) (CTK) 18 January 2006 -- Lawyers for former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz have asked Croatia to consider granting him asylum if he is released from U.S. custody.

Croatian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ivana Crnic did not say if Croatia plans to respond to the request.

Lawyers are seeking Aziz's release on medical grounds. His lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, believes the 69-year-old Aziz "is in his last days."

Aziz was arrested after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the Iraqi regime led by Saddam Hussein. With the agreement of Iraq's new government, he is currently being held in a U.S. detention facility.

(AP)