Saddam Hussein 'in good health but demoralised'

SADDAM HUSSEIN appears depressed and demoralised in solitary confinement, spending his time writing poetry, tending a garden and reading the Koran, it was claimed yesterday.

Bakhtiar Amin, the human rights minister in the new Iraqi government, said he had visited Saddam's cell on Saturday, although he did not speak to the former Iraqi leader.

Bakhtiar said Saddam was "in good health and being kept in good conditions", but he "appeared demoralised and dejected," The Guardian newspaper reported.