Lawyer of Saddam aide says his health is worsening

The health of Tariq Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister under &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/12132_hussein.html' target=_blank>Saddam Hussein, has deteriorated drastically and he should be released from detention, his lawyer and son said Thursday.

Lawyer Badee Izzat Aref said he saw Tariq Aziz, who is awaiting trial for abuses under Saddam's government, on Jan. 10 in detention in Baghdad. He "looked very tired and was walking with the help of a soldier," Aref said.

"He had also lost a lot of weight and told me he had suffered several slight heart attacks," Aref told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Baghdad.