LONDON, May 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The British newspaper Observer published on Sunday some letters of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz pleading for international help to end his "dire situation" in a US-run prison in Iraq.

    "We hope that will help us. We have been in prison for a long time and we have been cut from our families. No contacts, no phones, no letters. Even the parcels sent to us by our families are not given to us. We need a fair treatment, a fair investigation and finally a fair trial. Please help us," Aziz saidin a letter written in English and dated March 7.

    In another letter written in Arabic, Aziz said: " I have been accused unjustly, but to date no proper investigation has taken place. It is imperative that there is intervention into our dire situation and treatment. It is totally in contradiction to international law, the Geneva Convention and Iraqi law as we know it."

    The Observer published five letters, two in Arabic and three inEnglish, that bore the signature of "Tariq Aziz" and were addressed to "The world public opinion."

    Aziz surrendered to US forces on April 24, 2003, and has been in prison since then. Reports said the letters were from the Camp Cropper prison in Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein, Aziz and other high-ranking officials of Saddam's regime are held. Enditem