Baghdad, Iraq – Saddam Hussein was hospitalized Sunday and fed with a tube on the 17th day of a hunger strike to ensure he was healthy enough to continue with his trial, the chief prosecutor said. The procedure came as the former leader’s troubled trial nears a verdict that could lead to his hanging.
Prosecutor Jaafar al- Moussawi said he learned that Hussein’s health had become “unstable because of the hunger strike” during a visit to the U.S.-run prison where the former ruler and his seven fellow defendants are held.
“We took him to the hospital, and he is being currently fed by a tube,” al-Moussawi told reporters without elaboration.
Al-Moussawi said the feeding tube had stabilized Hussein’s health and the former president would appear in court as scheduled this week. Hussein was not scheduled to appear today when the trial resumes after a two- week break, because other defendants are to give their final summations.
It appeared that al-Moussawi had become concerned over the impact of televised pictures of a frail, weakened Hussein appearing in court and decided to check on the ex-president himself since the Americans were continuing to insist that the 69-year-old man’s health was unaffected despite two weeks without food.
The hunger strike was launched to demand better security for the defense team. Three of them have been assassinated since the trial began, most recently Khamis al-Obeidi, who was abducted and slain June 21.
The defense rejected an offer of the same security provided to the judges and prosecution lawyers: residence inside the Green Zone, the fortified Baghdad neighborhood where the court is located. Instead, they wanted bodyguards.
Hussein and the seven others have been on trial since Oct. 19 for the deaths of Shiite Muslims after a crackdown in the town of Dujayl, which was launched after an assassination attempt there in 1982. They could receive the death penalty if convicted.
Hussein attorney Khalil al- Dulaimi said none of the defendants or their attorneys would appear today unless the court “meets the minimum requirement ensuring a fair trial for the defendants.”
