Tariq Aziz

There is an article in BBC News that says Tariq Aziz will not testify against Saddam Hussein in his upcoming trial. A British paper had said that Mr. Aziz had agreed to testify against Hussein in exchange for basically being allowed to go into exile and live his life out peacefully. US officials, of course, will not comment on any such arrangement. Aziz's lawyer adamantly denies the arrangement and says the news report is "totally false".
Personally, I rather suspect this means that negociations are still underway.

I thought it interesting that the article says Aziz has been held at a "secret location since his surrender in April 2003". I guess that means I shouldn't tell a "war story" about when and where I saw him while I was in Iraq. (no I didn't interrogate him, his guards were taking him for a walk for some fresh air.)

On a different note, I went to another fencing tournament on Saturday. It was fun. I again placed right in the middle of the pack. My fencing is having moments of competency interrupting long streaches of mediocrity. I hate starting over. But it seems to be getting better. Afterward we went to BBQ buffet place. It was very good. One of the fencers is a grad student from New York, she had never experienced a southern BBQ buffet. (despite doing her undergrad in NC) she was quite impressed.