[JURIST] Lawyers representing former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, now held by the US in Iraq and expected to be tried for war crimes, have relayed a message from him calling on Iraqis to unite. Ziad Khasawneh, a Jordanian lawyer who is spokesman for his defence team, told reporters Sunday that the former dictator "urged the unity of his Iraqi people, regardless of their religious and ethnic creed, to confront U.S. plans to divide their country on sectarian grounds." The message was brought from jail by fellow defense counsel Khalil Dulaimi, an Iraqi lawyer who met with Hussein for some four hours on Thursday, but whose identity was kept secret until yesterday for fear of threats on his life. Dulami reported that Hussein had been kept ignorant of the news, but was "high-spirited" and was wary of the plan for January elections in Iraq. Reuters has more.