Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz is pleading to move to Britain.

According to The Sun of London, Aziz has told his US captors he will reveal all about the Iraqi regime in exchange for a new identity and cushy life in the UK.

Cigar-smoking Aziz, 67, was Saddam's best-known mouthpiece and condemned the UK. Now he wants to live in Britain because he is terrified of being executed by Iraqis and is desperate to dodge US strict justice, the paper Whitehall editor, David Gooding, wrote.

Aziz, who gave himself up o­n Thursday, is the most senior Saddam aide caught so far.

Murderous scumbag

Human rights groups last night said: "The guy is a murderous scumbag and we don't want him here. He has got the blood of hundreds of thousands o­n his hands."

The Iraqi Community Association, representing 250,000 Iraqis who fled to Britain, condemned any deal.

Spokesman Hashim Ali said: "It is unthinkable that Aziz gains protection in this country. He is a nasty, murderous man."

Within hours of his capture in Baghdad, Aziz a top member of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council hinted to US forces about his knowledge of weapons, crimes against humanity and Saddam's last-known whereabouts.

He even threw the name of Labour MP George Galloway accused of being o­n the Iraqi payroll into the conversation.

Total sell-out

An insider said: "Aziz has made it clear he is ready for a total sell-out. He knows we are anxious to retrieve this information and is playing hard-to-get. He has his price and he's sticking out for it.

"He is trying to do a deal to get himself off the hook. Aziz is a walking goldmine of information about Saddam and the regime and he knows it.

"He sees his knowledge as an insurance policy which he is now trying to cash in to buy himself out of jail."

Aziz's greatest fear is being sent to face trial before an Iraqi people's court and a death sentence.

Cigar-smoking Aziz also dreads being sent to Cuba, where his favourite Havanas are made, to be detained at America's Camp X-Ray.

The source added: "He knows that as a Christian and a key member of the regime there is no chance of Iraqis showing any leniency towards him.

"He is terrified of spending his last hours swinging from a crane in the centre of Baghdad. He's worried about being o­n American soil. Aziz is asking for assurances that if he provides detailed evidence and acts as a witness, he'll be treated like o­ne.

"He wants immunity from prosecution and a witness protection deal, involving a new identity. He's also suggested a move to France if they would take him, but Britain is his top choice.

"He says there is no record of him having taken part in any war crimes but he can help nail those who did."

Desperate Aziz made his demands as CIA chiefs quizzed him at a PoW camp. He will be flown to a high-security cell possibly o­n a US airbase.

Aziz gave himself up after two days negotiating through an intermediary.

Dignified handover

A Pentagon official said: "He wanted assurances he wouldn't be taken into a back room and shackled and beaten."

Aziz's son Ziab said the handover was dignified and US forces arranged treatment for a heart condition .

A Home Office spokeswoman last night said: "It's a ridiculous suggestion that asylum will be granted to this individual.

"The 1951 Refugee Convention allows us not to give asylum to people involved in war crimes or abuses of human rights," The Sun quoted her as saying.