Saddam pens letter to his family

Jailed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has written a letter to his family for the international Red Cross to deliver, officials said today.

The message was handed over to a two-member Red Cross delegation that visited Saddam at an undisclosed location in Iraq on Saturday, spokeswoman Nada Doumani said.

The visit was the first the time the Geneva-based body had checked on Saddam since his arrest in an underground bunker in Tikrit on December 13.

The visit to Saddam was arranged after the Pentagon formally declared Saddam a prisoner of war last month because of his status as commander in chief of Iraq’s military. As a POW, Saddam is entitled under the Geneva Conventions to certain rights, including visits by the international Red Cross and freedom from coercion of any kind during interrogations.

The Red Cross delegation, which included a doctor, spoke to Saddam privately at an undisclosed location in Iraq, Doumani said.

The Red Cross made no statement about Saddam’s health or conditions of confinement – routine practice for the organisation. Doumani said the Red Cross would make periodic visits as long as Saddam remains in custody and discuss its findings with US authorities.