Former Iraqi Deputy PM Tariq Aziz is due to go on trial over the deaths of a group of Baghdad merchants in 1992.
Mr Aziz, along with seven other former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, is accused of involvement in the executions of about 40 merchants.
The merchants were accused of hiking food prices at a time when Iraq was under international sanctions. They were executed after a speedy trial.
One of the co-accused is Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali".
Ali Hassan al-Majid is already on death row after being convicted last year of leading a campaign in the late 1980s in which tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurdish civilians were killed.
TARIQ AZIZ
Born in 1936, near Mosul, northern Iraq
Studied English literature and became a journalist
The most senior Christian in the toppled Saddam Hussein regime
Enlisted US support for war on Iran
Met US President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1984
Was Saddam Hussein's deputy for more than a decade
Profile: Tariq Aziz
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Another of Mr Aziz's co-accused is Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan.
Mr Aziz's son, Ziad, has said that his father is innocent.
"My father told me personally that he had nothing to do with this case. At the time, my father was on an official assignment outside of Iraq," he told the AFP news agency.
"None of the families of these merchants filed suits against my father."
Mr Aziz received hospital treatment last year after a fall in prison, while in 2006 he suffered a stroke.
He was taken into custody in April 2003 after he gave himself up to US forces.
Tariq Aziz due on trial in Iraq
Former Iraqi Deputy PM Tariq Aziz is due to go on trial over the deaths of a group of Baghdad merchants in 1992.
Mr Aziz, along with seven other former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, is accused of involvement in the executions of about 40 merchants.
The merchants were accused of hiking food prices at a time when Iraq was under international sanctions. They were executed after a speedy trial.
One of the co-accused is Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali".
Ali Hassan al-Majid is already on death row after being convicted last year of leading a campaign in the late 1980s in which tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurdish civilians were killed.
TARIQ AZIZ
Born in 1936, near Mosul, northern Iraq
Studied English literature and became a journalist
The most senior Christian in the toppled Saddam Hussein regime
Enlisted US support for war on Iran
Met US President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1984
Was Saddam Hussein's deputy for more than a decade
Profile: Tariq Aziz
Send us your comments
Another of Mr Aziz's co-accused is Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan.
Mr Aziz's son, Ziad, has said that his father is innocent.
"My father told me personally that he had nothing to do with this case. At the time, my father was on an official assignment outside of Iraq," he told the AFP news agency.
"None of the families of these merchants filed suits against my father."
Mr Aziz received hospital treatment last year after a fall in prison, while in 2006 he suffered a stroke.
He was taken into custody in April 2003 after he gave himself up to US forces.
