Saddam Hussein's former deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for the 1992 execution of 42 merchants accused of price gouging while Iraq was under UN sanctions.

The conviction was the first against Aziz, who for years was the former regime's public face to West.

Saddam's cousin "Chemical Ali" al-Majid also got a 15-year sentence for his role in the mass execution. Two of Saddam's half-brothers, former Interior Minister Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and director of public security Sabawi Ibrahim, were sentenced to death.