[JURIST] Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz [BBC profile] is ailing and may have only weeks to live, lawyer Badia Aref said Thursday, claiming his client is suffering from high blood pressure, cannot walk properly, and is being given 13 pills a day for heart problems, diabetes and other illnesses. Aziz was once the spokesman for the Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] government abroad in the 1980s and early 1990s and was jailed after the 2003 invasion of Iraq; he is still held in seclusion although no formal charges have been brought against him. A spokesman for the US military, which has physical custody over detained former senior members of Saddam's regime, said there had been no significant deterioration in Aziz's health, and that he was suffering from "existing ailments" at the time he was taken into custody. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Lawyer says petition underway to free Saddam deputy Aziz
• Lawyer says former Iraq deputy PM Aziz will be released without trial
• Former Iraq deputy prime minister Aziz gets family call in prison
• Iraqi Special Tribunal questions Aziz about Kurd killings
• Captive Saddam aides launch hunger strike, citing no access to counsel