first time Baghdad, Dec 24, SPA -- Tariq Aziz, a former senior aide forSaddam Hussein who has been in jail since April last year,met with his defense lawyer for the first time shortlybefore he is expected to be interrogated by aninvestigative judge, the attorney said Friday. Badee Izzat Aref, lawyer of the former deputy primeminister and foreign minister, said he met his client forabout five hours "and he wrote me notes with his own handabout several things." Aref did not say when he met with Aziz, who has been indetention at an unspecified location since the fall ofBaghdad in April last year. The meeting comes 10 days after interim Prime MinisterAyad Allawi said war crimes trials against Iraq's formerBaath Party leaders were about to start. Last week, AliHassan al-Majid, better known as Chemical Ali for his rolein poison gas attacks against the Kurdish minority, andformer Defense Minister Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad appearedat a preliminary hearing. Aziz, was among 12 defendants, including Saddam Hussein,who appeared before the judge to hear charges against themin July. He is also expected to be formally interrogatedsoon.--SPA1438 Local Time 1138 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/227230