Saddam Hussein force-fed to continue trial BreakingNews.ie_6203

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Saddam Hussein force-fed to continue trial You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Saddam Hussein was hospitalised and fed with a tube on the 17th day of a hunger strike to ensure he was healthy enough to continue with his trial,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, the chief prosecutor said. The procedure came as the ex-leader’s troubled trial nears a verdict that could lead to his hanging.
Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said he learned that Saddam’s health had become “unstable because of the hunger strike” during a visit to the US-run prison where the former ruler and his seven fellow defendants are held.
“We took him to hospital and he is being currently fed by a tube,” al-Moussawi said without elaboration.
Al-Moussawi said the feeding tube had stabilised Saddam’s health and the former president would appear in court as scheduled this week. Saddam was not scheduled to appear today when the trial resumes after a two-week break because other defendants are to give their final summations.
Saddam and seven co-defendants have been on trial since October 19 for the deaths of Shiite Muslims after a crackdown in the town of Dujail,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, which was launched after an assassination attempt there in 1982. They could receive the death penalty – by hanging – if convicted.
But Saddam’s lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said none of the defendants nor their lawyers would appear Monday unless the court “meets the minimum requirement ensuring a fair trial for the defendants”.
Al-Dulaimi said Saddam was “in high spirits and his health very good” despite the hunger strike.
US officials had acknowledged that Saddam and three other detainees had been refusing food since the evening meal of July 7 but were drinking coffee and sweet tea. The Americans insisted that the 69-year-old Saddam was still in good health despite two weeks without food, and that he had been advised by “medical professionals” of the dangers of not eating.
A spokesman for the US detention command would not say whether Saddam had been hospitalised but said he was under medical supervision and was “voluntarily” taking nutrients through a feeding tube.
“He’s continuing to refuse meals,” Lt. Col. Keir-Kevin Curry said. “He remains in coalition care and custody, and we’re providing appropriate medical care.”
US officials have not identified the others who were refusing food, but defence lawyers said they are co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam’s half brother; former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and Awad al-Bandar.
The hunger strike was launched to demand better security for the defence team. Three of them have been assassinated since the trial began,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, most recently Khamis al-Obeidi who was abducted and slain June 21.
The defence team blamed the killing on Shiite militiamen and announced it would boycott the trial in protest over the lack of security.
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