| The lawyer representing Saddam Hussein claims the former Iraqi dictator has been mistreated in US custody. Jordanian lawyer Muhammed al Rushadan, who has been retained by Saddam’s family, said his client had wounds on his body. "There are fresh wounds on his body," he said, citing a Red Cross document he claims to have. Al Rushadan also released comments from Saddam that were taken from a letter to his family. In the note, Saddam asked his family to "say hello to everyone". The deposed Iraqi leader wrote in the heavily censored letter, "my spirit and my morale, they are high, thanks to greatness of God". The letter was written on a standard form provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, taken when they visited him in February. Yesterday it emerged that the US will hand legal custody of Saddam and a number of other former regime figures to the interim Iraqi government as soon as local courts issue warrants for their arrest and request the transfer. But the US will retain physical custody of Saddam and the prisoners, while giving Iraqi prosecutors and defence lawyers access to them, a US official said. |