The man who once served as the international face of Saddam Hussein's regime predicted Sunday that he'll die in an Iraqi jail, citing his old age and lengthy prison sentence.
During a brief interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, Tariq Aziz said that considering he is 74 and faces more than two decades in prison for crimes related to his role in the former regime, he expects to die behind bars.
``I have no future. I have no future. I'm 74 years old now,' he said. ``So I have no future.' Aziz served for years as Saddam Hussein's foreign minister, establishing an international reputation as the defender of the late dictator's regime.
He surrendered to US forces about a month after the war started in March 2003.
He was held at an American prison in Baghdad until the US handed over control of the facility this July to the Iraqi government. Aziz was handed over as well.
The English-speaking Aziz, who was a rare Christian in Saddam's inner circle, has been convicted in two cases stemming from the Saddam-era.
Last year, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years for his role in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants found guilty of profiteering. He also received a 7-year prison sentence for a case involving the forced displacement of Kurds in northern Iraq.
Aziz is currently on trial in a long-running case in which he is accused of being part of a campaign targeting members of the Shiite Dawa Party, of which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a member.
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