A day in the new life
of Saddam Hussein-•First account of Iraqi despot's life
in jail
By Sun News Publshing
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
 |
•Saddam
Hussein
Sun News Publishing |
|
|
Saddam Hussein is spending his time in solitary confinement
writing poetry, gardening, reading the Qur'an and snacking
on American muffins and cookies. One of his poems is about
his arch-enemy George Bush.
The intriguing glimpse of the former dictator's daily routine
as he awaits trial on charges of war crimes and genocide was
given to the Guardian Sunday by Iraq's human rights minister,
Bakhtiar Amin, who visited Saddam in detention on Saturday.
Mr Amin, a longtime Iraqi human rights campaigner who had
family members killed by the former regime, said he could
not bring himself to speak to Saddam but observed that he
was "in good health and being kept in good conditions".
However, Mr Amin said the former president "appeared
demoralised and dejected". Saddam is being held in a
white-walled air-conditioned cell, three metres wide and four
metres long, Mr Amin said. He is kept apart from the other
prisoners, who can mix freely with each other during the daily
three-hour exercise periods. Since appearing in court, Saddam
had taken to reading the Qur'an and writing poetry, Mr Amin
said. "One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had
no time to read it."
Saddam's health was "generally good" but he was
being treated for high blood pressure and had suffered a chronic
prostate infection for which he had received antibiotics.
The former president had refused a biopsy to test for signs
of cancer. Mr Amin said Saddam "was regaining weight
again" after a self-imposed diet in which he "resisted
all fatty foods and had lost 11lb".
Like the other high-value detainees, Saddam's day begins with
a substantial breakfast, an MRE (meal ready to eat), which
provides 1,300 calories. He also gets hot food twice a day,
which could consist of rice or potato and broccoli, along
with either fish, beef or chicken. For dessert, there might
be oranges, apples, pears or plums, but the former leader
has developed a penchant for American snacks such as muffins
and cookies.
There is regular access to showers and a barber, and a personal
grooming kit that includes soaps, toothpaste, comb, shampoo
and deodorant, and plastic sandals. For relaxation, there
are no newspapers, TV or radio, but there are 145 books -
mainly novels and travel books - donated by the Red Cross,
which visits the detainees every six weeks.
Mr Amin said Saddam works out in his cell and then uses the
daily exercise period to tend a small garden in an outside
yard. "He is looking after a few bushes and shrubs and
has even placed a circle of white stones around a small palm
tree," said Mr Amin, a Kurd from Kirkuk, who is the first
member of Iraq's new interim government to visit Saddam. "His
apparent care for his surroundings is ironic when you think
he was responsible for one of the biggest ecocides when he
drained the southern marshes."
In televised proceedings on July 1, Saddam and 11 other former
regime members were arraigned in a Baghdad courtroom on charges
that include killing rival politicians, gassing Kurds in Halabja,
invading Kuwait and suppressing Kurdish and Shia uprisings
in 1991. Mr Amin said the prisoners were technically under
Iraqi jurisdiction but would remain at the US military prison
until Iraqi authorities are ready to take physical custody
of them.
US and Iraqi officials have said that the former president
has not provided extensive information during interrogation.
Some of Saddam's aides have been more cooperative.
They include Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali,
who reportedly gave the orders to use chemical weapons against
Kurds in the late 1980s; Hussein's half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti;
as well as Hussein's influential personal secretary, Abid
Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti.
Mr Amin said that during his visit he was approached by Barzan
al-Tikriti, who was standing next to Ali Hassan al-Majid.
"Mr Minister, what am I doing here?" Mr al-Tikriti
said. "I am not like the others, I am not like Ali Hassan
al-Majid. Please tell that to [the Kurdish leaders] Massoud
Barzani and Jalal Talabani and to Ayad Allawi [the new prime
minister]."
Mr al-Tikriti was once head of Saddam's intelligence service
and is suspected of involvement in the murder of several thousand
members of the Barzani clan in the 1980s. "I tried to
control my emotions, but to be honest I wanted to vomit,"
Mr Amin said.
"There before me were the men responsible for the industrial
pain of Iraq - mass murderers who were responsible for turning
Iraq into a land of mass graves."
But he insisted: "There will be a just trial and a fair
trial, unlike the trials that he inflicted on his enemies,
on the Iraqi people."
|
