Saddam says his spirit, morale "high"

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said in a letter to his family that his spirit and morale were high, the Newsweek magazine said in a report posted on its website on Tuesday.

In the first and only letter addressed to "my daughter" since his capture last December, Saddam said: "As for my spirit and my morale, they are high, thanks to greatness of God. And say hello to everyone."

The US occupation authorities censored nine of the 14 lines written on a standard "family message form" provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The letter was delivered to Saddam's eldest daughter in Amman, Jordan after ICRC representatives visited Saddam on Feb. 21.

The letter, apparently in Saddam's handwriting, was shown to Newsweek by Muhammed al-Rushadan, a Jordanian lawyer retained by Saddam's family.

Rushadan is currently on a visit to the United States, where he hopes to make the case that Saddam's human rights are being violated and that he is being held in violation of the Geneva Convention.

In addition, Rushadan believes Saddam is being mistreated like some of the war prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.