Nasiriyah, Iraq: Iraq's jailed former foreign minister Tariq Aziz, who used his mastery of English to put a gloss on Saddam Hussein's murderous regime for two decades, has died in hospital aged 79.

As Saddam's principal spokesman, the bespectacled Aziz - the only Christian in the now-executed dictator's inner circle - was a recognisable figure internationally whose rise was attributed to unswerving loyalty to Saddam.

Died of heart attack: Former Iraqi deputy premier Tariq Aziz speaks to an Egyptian delegation in Baghdad in 2003. Credit:Reuters

Aziz was found guilty of "deliberate murder and crimes against humanity" for a crackdown on religious parties in the 1980s, and was sentenced to death in October 2010. He was also handed various prison sentences for other crimes.

"Tariq Aziz arrived at the Hussein Teaching Hospital at 3 pm," Dr Saadi al-Majed, the head of the health department in Dhi Qar, the province where he was jailed, said on Friday.