Saddam in hospital after hunger strike

Saddam Hussein was being fed through a tube yesterday after 16 days on hunger strike and an Iraqi official said he will not attend court today.

"To avoid a deterioration in his health he was taken to hospital for medical attention and food was given to him through his mouth," chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said yesterday. "He will not be able to attend the session tomorrow."

A US military spokesman said Saddam was not in a critical condition.

"Saddam Hussein continues to maintain his hunger strike and is voluntarily receiving nutrition through a feeding tube. His condition is constantly monitored by medical personnel and is not life-threatening," he said.

Saddam's lawyers accuse the US military of force-feeding the ousted leader, whose hunger strike has added to the chaos of his trial, which is approaching its conclusion.

The US military says the 69-year-old ex-president has been drinking sweet coffee and liquid nourishment and receiving psychological counselling to try to persuade him to eat.

Saddam and his co-accused are on trial for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men and teenagers after an attempt on his life in the town of Dujail in 1982.

He is also awaiting trial in August for genocide against the Kurds in the late 1980s under the so-called Anfal campaign.

The Dujail trial, which US and Iraqi officials had hoped would project a new image of democracy in postwar Iraq, has been marred by the killing of three defence lawyers.

Saddam and his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti have often launched tirades in the chamber in a trial which saw the resignation of the first chief judge in protest over what he called government interference.

Saddam's chief defence lawyer accused US military authorities of force feeding the toppled president to make him end the hunger strike.

"The US military are force-feeding the president to break his will and end his hunger strike to protest against the trial and its illegality," Khalil Dulaimi told Reuters in Amman.

Mr Dulaimi said he had held a three-hour meeting with Saddam on Saturday to confer on defence tactics in which a decision was taken to boycott today's session. He said he had found Saddam in good health, despite a weight loss of several kilograms.