From his prison cell, Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to remain united against the U.S. occupation and warned that the elections next month could divide the country, his lawyers said their first meeting with the ousted Iraqi leader since his capture.
"Our representative in Iraq told us that the president warned the people of Iraq and the Arabs to beware of the American scheme aimed at splitting Iraq into sectarian and religious divisions and weakening the (Arab) nation," said Bushra Khalil, a Lebanese member of Saddam's defense team of 20 attorneys.
"The president sent recommendations to the Iraqi people to remain united and not fall in the trap of America's slogans," she said, according to the AP. "He said Kurds, Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis and Christians are all Iraqis who all have to stand united against the American plot."
According to attorney Ziad al-Khasawneh, Saddam's health is good although he is kept in a 3-by-5-yard cell "which lacks any information medium or connection with the outside world."
Sometimes, Saddam heard aircraft flying over his cell, al-Khasawneh said. He quoted the deposed leader as saying of the airplanes: "These are probably going to Fallujah. I live with their pain."
