PARIS - A French lawyer representing Saddam Hussein asked today for the International Red Cross to look into reports that the jailed former Iraqi leader has begun a hunger strike.

Emmanuel Ludot, a lawyer in eastern French city of Reims, said it was not immediately clear whether Saddam, who is currently in U.S. and Iraqi custody, might have stopped eating to protest his detention.

Ludot said another attorney on Saddam's defense team had told him of the prospect that Saddam might be on a hunger strike. Ludot said he is to meet Wednesday with officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross on the matter.

A lawyer appointed by the family of detained former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has said some detainees began a hunger strike to protest their detention.

By The Associated Press