Saddam's lawyer denies hunger strike

A member of Saddam's Amman-based legal team had earlier said that Saddam and his seven co-accused were planning the strike.

Saddam Hussein's chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi denied on Sunday that the ousted Iraqi dictator, on trial on charges of crimes against humanity, planned to go on hunger strike.

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"All the reports about a hunger strike by Saddam and his co-defendants are without foundation," Dulaimi said.

A member of Saddam's Amman-based legal team had earlier said that Saddam and his seven co-accused were planning the strike in protest at the court's efforts to force them to appear at the next hearing on Monday.

All eight, who face the death penalty if convicted over the massacre of more than 140 Shi'ites after an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982, boycotted the last hearing on February 2.