How Saddam spends time in captivity
An extensive, tempting menu
From Kianne Sadeq
CNN
 |  Saddam Hussein during a defiant moment in July 1 court appearance. |
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 Saddam sampling life behind bars
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's human rights minister Friday said captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is in "good shape" and shows no signs of serious illness despite some nagging health issues -- such as high blood pressure, a prostate infection, a hernia and a bout with weight loss.
Bakhtiar Amin saw Saddam, 67, last week during a tour of the prison at Camp Cropper in Baghdad and dispelled some of the "folkloristic" rumors spreading about Saddam -- that he is brain dead, has cancer or is blind.
The interim government official came back with a bird's-eye view of prison life for Saddam and his jailed allies and concluded that it is a humane existence in comparison to what the Saddam regime inflicted on its inmates for decades.
The former dictator spends time benignly -- tending to a garden, munching on tasty American-style snacks and filling meals, reading the Quran and other books, and writing letters to relatives.
As for his health, Saddam suffers from a "chronic prostate infection," Amin said, but "generally his health condition is good." He has received antibiotics for the infection and "seems to be OK."
"They did a chest CAT scan for him and a back MRI and some blood tests and it didn't show any cancer. He refused a biopsy in order to determine if he really has cancer or not [of the prostate]," said Amin, who doesn't know why he turned down the procedure.
Amin's comment echo comments from a senior U.S. official who told CNN Thursday in Washington that Saddam had told medical personnel he was "reluctant" to have any surgery to treat his "prostate problem."
Amin said Saddam takes medicine for his high blood pressure and has a hernia. He has problems with one of his eyes and wears glasses.
Reading and gardening
Saddam is screened monthly in the camp's health center -- which has a doctor and other health care personnel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross "visits him regularly. If there anything else, we will be the first to know," Amin said.
A bearded, dirty, scruffy Saddam was captured by U.S. forces December 13, 2003, in a "spider hole" near his hometown of Tikrit.
U.S. officials have described Saddam as being less than cooperative during his interrogations.
He and other former regime officials were handed over to Iraqi authorities, although the detainees remain guarded by U.S. troops.
Saddam challenged the authority of the new Iraqi leadership and judicial system when he appeared in court July 1 to hear preliminary charges against him.
Unlike six other prisoners to appear before the war crimes tribunal, Saddam has not requested a consultation for depression, anxiety, or sleeping problems. He is isolated from the other 96 inmates who do mingle with one another.
"He often reads the Quran which one can say is out of fear because he is not a real believer ... he is an infidel," said Amin. "A believer wouldn't have allowed himself to have the blood of millions of Iraqis on his hands."
He gets dental treatment and "has a daily grooming."
"He can request anytime a haircutter to come and make him look good. He gets shampoo, soap, and deodorant."
Amin's descriptions of Saddam's world amounts a seemingly cloistered, quiet existence.
He has a 10-by-13 foot (3-by-4 meter), air-conditioned room that is white with a tiled floor and a 100-volt bulb lamp.
When Amin saw Saddam, the former strongman was wearing a purple Arab robe and plastic sandals. He wore reading glasses and had a book.
Saddam leaves his cell three times daily and goes to a yard adjacent to his air-conditioned room, he said. He said Saddam cared for a small tree and put stones around it.
"He has become a gardener these days. I don't know, maybe he has a bad conscience for having decapitated hundreds of thousands of palm trees and committed the world's biggest ecocide of the 20th century."
Former minister: 'I shouldn't be here'
Also, Amin said that Saddam eats very well and likes "American snacks like muffins, cookies."
"He gets good food. He gets excellent food. ... I wish that his prisoners at the time were getting such good food. He gets an MRE (meals ready to eat) in the morning with 1,300 calories.
He gets "hot meals with rice, potatoes, broccoli, vegetables ... he gets fish, chicken, beef...fruits, apples, pears, plums, but not melon or watermelon. He gets tea ... no cappuccino or latte."
The ICRC officials who visit Saddam and the other prisoners provide them with novels and travel books.
"I requested to get a list of the books so that I can know what they are reading," he said.
Amin said Saddam "sends letters once a week to his closest family members and he can get letters regularly. "
The human rights minister checked out conditions for other jailed former officials and caught a glimpse of some of them.
"I was walking and Barzan al-Tikrit was yelling minister, minister, minister ... I looked back and he said, 'I am Barzan al-Tikrit -- your former Iraqi ambassador for human rights for the U.N. commission and I used to come to Geneva, you remember me.'"
"I said, 'I used to come and denounce your human rights violations,'" recalled Amin.
"He said, 'I shouldn't be here... I am not like Chemical Ali (Ali Hasan al-Majid) and I shouldn't be treated like him ... I am different. I used to be opposed to Saddam.'"
