LONDON, July 26: Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein spends his time in prison gardening, writing poetry and snacking on American muffins and cookies, Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Monday.

The paper said the "intriguing glimpse of the former dictator's daily routine as he awaits trial on charges of war crimes and genocide was given... by Iraq's human rights minister, Bakhtiar Amin, who visited Saddam in detention on Saturday".

"One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had no time to read it," he told the Guardian, without making it clear whether he was referring to the incumbent US president, or his father.

"Like the other high-value detainees, Saddam's day begins with a substantial breakfast, an MRE (meal ready to eat), which provides 1,300 calories. He also gets hot food twice a day, which could consist of rice or potato and broccoli, along with either fish, beef or chicken.

"For dessert, there might be oranges, apples, pears or plums, but the former leader has developed a penchant for American snacks such as muffins and cookies," he said.

Amin told the paper that Saddam "works out in his cell and then uses the daily exercise period to tend a small garden in an outside yard. "He is looking after a few bushes and shrubs and has even placed a circle of white stones around a small palm tree," he said.

"His apparent care for his surroundings is ironic when you think he was responsible for one of the biggest ecocides when he drained the southern marshes," he told the paper. -AFP