AMMAN, Dec 19: Saddam Hussein has urged the Iraqi people from his prison cell to be united and cautioned them to be wary of the elections slated for Jan 30, his Jordan-based legal team said on Sunday.

The jailed former president made these 'recommendations' during his first meeting with one of his Iraqi lawyers last Thursday, spokesman Ziad Khassawneh told a press conference in Amman.

Khassawneh reported Saddam's remarks after he and several members of the legal team, including a Lebanese-French lawyer and a Libyan, were briefed on the meeting Saddam had with Khalil al-Dulaimi.

"The president asked about the Iraqi people ... and stressed the need for their unity," Khassawneh said. Saddam chose a verse from the Holy Quran to insist on Iraqi unity: "Hold on to God's law and don't scatter," Khassawneh said.

"He also insisted that Iraq's religious leaders, of all factions, have a role and must bear the historical responsibility for what is happening to Iraq," Khassawneh said. Another lawyer, Lebanese Adnan Dannawi, said during the meeting Saddam asked to be briefed on developments in Iraq and was told by Dulaimi that the country is preparing to hold elections.

"At that point, the president said to Dulaimi the Iraqi people should 'be wary of this issue'," Dannawi said. Asked by reporters if Saddam appealed for the Iraqi people to boycott the polls, Dannawi replied: "He did not say anything more." -AFP