27 February 2004	Friday	06 Muharram 1425

BAGHDAD, Feb 26: The top US commander in Iraq gave Saddam Hussein a clean bill of health Thursday, two months after he was captured by US troops in a hole in the ground on a small farm.

"Health is good, no issues," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez told reporters. "He's in good health." Sanchez refused to comment further on where the jailed dictator was being held or whether he was revealing any vital information to US forces on the resistance or weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The general added it was not clear when Saddam Hussein, who became president in 1979, would be handed over to the Iraqi authorities to stand trial for crimes against the Iraqi people.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Saddam Hussein for the first time on Saturday and checked his mental and physical health, but did not reveal his condition.

The ICRC also took a letter from Saddam Hussein to be delivered to his family. US forces captured the former dictator on December 13 hiding in a hole on a farm in a village close to his hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. -AFP