Former Iraq Deputy Prime Minister under Saddam Hussein, Tareq Aziz, has been acquitted of involvement in mass killings by a court in Baghdad.

The judge said there was not enough evidence to convict Aziz over a military crackdown against Shi’ites in Baghdad’s Sadr City in 1999 in which dozens died. But, in the same case, one of Saddams’ closest aides, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, was given a third death sentence. Majeed, a cousin of Saddam, earned his nickname for his role in using poison gas to kill thousands of Kurdish villagers. His previous sentences were for masterminding a campaign against Kurds in the 1980s and killing thousands of Shi’ites after an uprising in the 1991 Gulf War. The execution has been held up by political wrangling.More about: Ali Hassan al-Majeed, Iraq

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