[JURIST] In a letter written by Saddam Hussein to a Jordanian and delivered through the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross the former Iraqi president, facing trial this fall and possible execution, says that he will be "sacrificed for our precious Palestine and our beloved, patient and suffering Iraq." The letter, censored by the US authorities holding the ousted Iraqi dictator, is reported to be the first message to a non-family member sent by Saddam through the Red Cross; a spokesman for the Jordanian Arab Baath Socialist Party said it was directed to an "independent Jordanian political figure who wished to remain anonymous." Read the full text of the letter as translated from the Arabic for AP. AP has more.

In a related development, and as anticipated [JURIST report], former Saddam deputy Tariq Aziz [BBC profile] over the weekend received what is believed to be the first family visit allowed a senior Iraqi detainee at a secret detention center in Iraq. Meeting Saturday with his wife, two daughters and another relative for 30 minutes in a visiting area where they were separated by glass under the supervision of two Arabic-speaking US soldiers, Aziz reportedly said he was "not anxious" about eventually standing trial: "I did not hurt anybody and my page is clean." Aziz is being investigated for his role in Baath party purges and other events during the Hussein regime, but has not yet been charged with any offenses. AP has more.