recover and may need some sort of surgery , the report said . It added he is diabetic and suffers from `` acute heart failure . '' Treatment includes clearing of the arteries followed by either open heart surgery or stents in the arteries , but neither option is available at this time , the report said . Ali Hasan al-Majeed , who was a top Baathist official during the Saddam Hussein era , is awaiting execution after being convicted of genocide in connection with the killing of Kurds during the Anfal campaign in the late 1980s . Aziz , al-Majeed and six others are now facing trial for having a role in the execution of 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992 . A former deputy prime minister , Aziz was the first to be called into court , followed by six other defendants . Aziz appeared frail , walked slowly with a cane , and was coughing and blowing his nose . He was sitting in the seat Saddam Hussein used during his appearances in court and was represented by a private attorney . The court was sorting out which defendants did not have attorneys present . This is the
BAGHDAD , Iraq -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Court proceedings in the trial against Tariq Aziz , one of the best-known faces of Saddam Hussein 's former regime in Iraq , and several co-defendants have ended after being in session only briefly Tuesday . The trial of Tariq Aziz , pictured here in a Baghdad courtroom in July 2004 , has begun . The trial , which is to resume May 20 , was delayed because one of the defendants , Ali Hassan al-Majeed , also known as `` Chemical Ali , '' was not present because he was ill . Iraqi procedural codes require that all defendants be in court for the first session . Chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman read a U.S. medical report signed by three doctors that said al-Majeed is in critical condition after suffering a heart attack two weeks ago . He has been released from the hospital but still requires daily treatment and doctor visits . The report said that traveling to court from his detention facility could worsen his health . He can not walk up stairs or sit in court for long hours , it said . He will need three weeks to