Tareq Aziz does not attend Italian event

The London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted well-informed Italian sources as saying that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz declined to come to the Italian capital on Friday to take part in a seminar organised by one of the rightist Italian parties, out of fears of being vulnerable to the situation which the deputy chairman of the Iraqi revolution's leadership council, Izzat Ibrahim, underwent in Vienna last week when he stopped his medical treatment to avoid investigations into him on accusations of committing crimes against humanity.

In today's issue the paper added, quoting the same sources, that Aziz was supposed to take part in the annual seminar about peace and development causes, organised by the Italian People's Party.

The paper added that Aziz recorded the lecture he was to deliver on a videocassette broadcast on Friday during the seminar at the time reserved for the Iraqi official.