Aziz Has Another Heart Attack

Senior Iraqi diplomats have confirmed to NewsMax correspondent Stewart Stogel that former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz suffered a heart attack several weeks ago.

It would be the second heart attack suffered by the former Iraqi official since he surrendered to the U.S. military in Baghdad on April 24.

While his location has not been revealed by Coalition officials, it is believed that he is sequestered at one of the former presidential palaces in the environs of the Iraqi captial.

Diplomatic sources tell NewsMax that Aziz has been trying to "cut a deal" with Washington since his arrest, but that the White House was not biting.

To "entice" his "value," Aziz has been inundating Coaltion officials with loads of information: "We can't get him to shut up," explained one Coaltion official.

A U.K. newspaper reported that Aziz was pressing U.K. officials for permission to "retire" in the north of the country.

The Brits weren't biting either.

One reason: The information Aziz has been providing has not been very valuable.

On the most important question, the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, Aziz has come up dry.

The problem now facing the White House, say diplomatic sources, is whether Washington is prepared to continue to imprison Aziz and run the risk of him dying in custody, or simply release him.

According to several diplomats familiar with the situation, the Bush administration is concerned that if Aziz is released he will become a mass-media magnet for criticism of the U.S.-led invasion. "The last thing they [the U.S.] wants is for Aziz to stand in front of TV cameras proclaiming, I told you so, no WMD, the whole foundation for the war was a lie."

Meanwhile, the coalition has found plenty of illegal weapons in Iraq, WMD or no.