LAWYERS for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein complained yesterday that plans to start his trial next month gave him too little time to prepare his defence.

A French attorney for Saddam Hussein today dismissed an Iraqi court’s statement that the former dictator had fired an international defence team, but conceded the team could only provide behind-the-scenes help.

Jordan has refused to license the printing of a novel written by Saddam Hussein because it would harm the kingdom’s relations with its eastern neighbour, a senior government official said today.

Saddam Hussein’s eldest daughter is insisting on personally endorsing the appointment of any lawyer defending her father in his forthcoming trial, a move apparently aimed at undercutting Iraqi efforts to recruit a defence team.

Saddam Hussein’s daughters have expressed deep affection for their father in interviews, but said they did not know where he was and that they last saw him a week before the Iraqi war started.