Saddam on tenth day of hunger strike
Saddam Hussein and three co-defendants are on the 10th day of a hunger strike in Iraq over demands for better security for defence lawyers, but their health remains good.
Saddam and the others have refused meals since dinner on July 7, said US Lt. Col. Keir-Kevin Curry, spokesman for detainee operations in Baghdad.
Curry said Saddam, 69, whose trial resumes next Monday, was drinking coffee with sugar and water with nutrients.
“We are ensuring they receive proper care and attention,” Curry said. “Despite their refusal to eat their meals, they are in good health and receiving appropriate medical care.”
He said all detainees “have access to care by a physician at all times. Additional medical attention is focused on those detainees who continue to refuse meals”.
The other three defendants on hunger strike have not been identified. Saddam and seven others are on trial for crimes against humanity in the deaths of Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against the Iraqi leader in the town of Dujail in 1982.
Three defence lawyers have been killed since the trial began last October.
