Saddam ends hunger strike before trial resumption

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein has ended a hunger strike he began earlier this month to protest against the conduct of his trial, his chief lawyer said on Monday, a day before the ousted Iraqi leader is due back in court.

The televised hearing may well give Saddam a chance to expound on sectarian violence that has swept Iraq in the past week; the former president has justified harsh policies during his rule as a means of preventing the country from breaking up.

Deputy chief lawyer, Khamis al-Obeidi, said Saddam's defense team would attend Tuesday's session after staging a boycott.

On trial since October for crimes against humanity, Saddam complicated already chaotic proceedings at the last hearing on February 14 by saying he and seven co-accused were refusing food.

"The president maintained his hunger strike for 11 days but was forced to end it for health reasons," chief defense attorney Khalil Dulaimi, who met Saddam for seven hours in Baghdad on Sunday, told Reuters.

The 68-year-old former president has accused the court of forcing him to attend hearings that he wished to boycott.

Dulaimi said U.S. prison officials overseeing Saddam's custody had contacted defense lawyers over the hunger strike to "prevent any adverse health impact." He said the ex-leader had lost some weight but gave no details.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said Saddam's refusal to eat was in protest at being kept separate from his co-defendants in holding cells at the court before proceedings began.

"During the last two sessions he was isolated from other defendants before attending the court room," he said. "He was put in a special room with basic services."

Moussawi said court officials would change the arrangement.

SADDAM BUOYANT

Obeidi said that in a meeting on February 20 he informed Saddam about the situation in Iraq, which is gripped by violence.

"I hate to see any Iraqi shed a single drop of blood," Obeidi quoted Saddam as saying.

Dulaimi said Saddam showed "high morale" when he met him alone to deliberate defense strategy after his lawyers walked out of the trial last month in protest at court proceedings.

The defense team was banned from meeting Saddam after the walkout, but chief judge Raouf Abdel Rahman has lifted the ban to enable Saddam's lawyers to return for Tuesday's hearing.

Saddam's defense team had accused Abdel Rahman of bias and had said it would not return to court until he resigns.

Dulaimi said he would ask the court to postpone the next session, citing worsening security in Iraq. More than 200 people have been killed since a Shi'ite mosque was bombed on Wednesday.

The trial has been buffeted by the killing of two defense lawyers and charges of political bias. Two months ago the previous chief judge quit, complaining of government meddling.

Prosecutors will now devote two days to reading documents from Saddam's era in power, the last evidence that will be heard before specific charges are formulated, court sources said.

The memoranda, letters and court orders will allegedly link Saddam and his co-accused to the deaths of 148 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail in reprisal for a 1982 attempt on his life there.

The tribunal is then expected to recess for another two to three weeks while the documents are drawn up.

Dulaimi said the defense would present a formal case against Abdel Rahman on the grounds that his Kurdish background meant it was difficult for him to show impartiality.

Saddam, who ruled Iraq for three decades, faces death by hanging if convicted.

(Reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad)