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Albert dined with Saddam's top man, Tariq
Irish Independent; Apr 27, 2003

JEROME REILLY

FORMER Taoiseach Albert Reynolds yesterday spoke of dinner at the palatial Baghdad home of Tariq Aziz and the close trade links, including beef, that once flourished betweenIreland and Iraq.

Tariq Aziz, the public face of Saddam Hussein's regime, surrendered to US forces onThursday and may now face trial for war crimes - despite once being feted in both London and Washington.

"It was in 1995 or 1996 thereabouts and myself and the British Labour MP Tam Dalyellwere among parliamentarians who were on a humanitarian mission at the invitation of the President of the Iraqi Parliament.

"Tariq Aziz gave a dinner for us in his home. There was an offer to meet SaddamHussein at the time but I turned it down. Tariq Aziz was the leading diplomat, a Catholic and spoke perfect English. He was a fine host and he knew his job as a diplomat verywell.

"I have to say that I always got the impression that he was not on the inside track withSaddam. I don't know whether he should be in custody the way he is. I don't knowwhether he should be charged with war crimes, though it struck me that he must feel confident enough of his innocence as he is the only one to give himself up voluntarily," Mr Reynolds added.

Mr Reynolds stated that later at a private talk after dinner in Baghdad he had suggested to Mr Aziz that the invasion of Kuwait had been a terrible mistake. "He agreed with me. He accepted privately that it was a mistake," the former Taoiseach added.

Mr Reynolds said that the trade links between Ireland and Iraq ended with the first GulfWar but revealed that Mr Aziz's sister used to be head of the Iraqi buying agency and that may have been one of the reasons why the dinner was given in his home."

"Back in 1987/1988, while in Government in Trade and Industry, I was doing business on behalf of the Irish pharmaceutical, food and medical industries.

"That was when everyone was dealing with them before the sanctions came in."

Asked if he wondered if the files on Ireland's beef trade with Iraq were still in existence, Mr Reynolds said he didn't know but he was anxious to find out how much money Ireland lost on beef as a result of the imposition of the sanctions.

"Deputy [Des] O'Malley was always talking about hundreds of millions but I thought it wasmore in the region of GBP15-GBP16m. It is an interesting figure to get, given the claims that were made at the beef tribunal.

"I don't know what Tariq Aziz's involvement was with the regime and what went on in Iraq locally in [Saddam's] administration but Ireland did good business with them. Every other nation was trying to do that business as well. During hard times we relished thebusiness," Mr Reynolds added.

On BBC Radio yesterday, former Labour MP Tony Benn spoke of meeting Tariq Aziz on a number of occasions.

"Remember, he was accepted by both the American and the British Governments. He met Ronald Reagan in the White House," Mr Benn pointed out.

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