Saddam Hussein’s long-serving foreign minister whose Chaldean Catholicism was likely little more than a fig leaf Tariq Aziz, who has died aged 79, employed his Catholic faith as a tool of diplomacy during 24 years of service in the court of Saddam Hussein.Along with his impeccable English and urbane manner, Aziz’s religion formed part of a carefully contrived act. By posing as a cultured and moderate figure, he sought to dupe Westerners into forgetting that he was the public face of Iraq’s murderous regime – and that his survival depended on absolute obedience to his master.Thus Aziz spent 12 years as Iraq’s foreign minister, and another 12 as deputy prime minister, serving as a professional defender of the indefensible. The act was polished and well-practis