[DIV id=ynmain] [DIV id=storybody] Saddam turns 69 while in prison
Iraq's ousted leader Saddam Hussein, in jail while he is being tried on charges of crimes against humanity, spent his third birthday in a row behind bars as he turned 69.
US officials were tight-lipped about what Saddam was up to on his birthday.
"We dont have much interest in providing any color to Saddams life," a US military spokesman told AFP.
Although Saddam is being tried by an Iraqi tribunal on charges including murder and torture over the killing of Shiites in the 1980s, US forces oversee his detention at the request of the Iraqi authorities "for security reasons," the spokesman said.
"He is treated humanely and in full accordance with international standards," he added.
Saddam was last seen on television on April 22 attending his trial, along with seven former regime officials.
He will soon face charges of genocide for the Anfal campaign of the late 80s in which at least 100,000 people were killed, mostly Kurds.
Saddam, the once feared strongman who ruled for almost a quarter of a century, was found hiding in a hole in December 2003 after the US-led invasion in March of that year.
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