The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in US custody, two months after his capture, an ICRC spokeswoman told AFP. "Two ICRC representatives, including a doctor, visited Saddam Hussein Saturday in Iraq and were able to stay with him long enough for a physical and mental evaluation," Nada Dumani said from Amman. "In accordance with its rules, the ICRC is unable to give any indication about the condition of Saddam Hussein. The ICRC, following this visit, as in the case of all (Iraqi) prisoners, will report directly to the (US-led) coalition," she added. US forces captured the former dictator on December 13 hiding in a hole on a farm in a village close to his hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. US authorities formally gave the ICRC the green light to visit him on February 14. Top coalition spokesman Dan Senor confirmed to the US television network CNN that ICRC officials had visited Saddam, but said that in the spirit of the Geneva Convention it would be "inappropriate" for him to comment further. "Under the Geneva convention, enemy prisoners of war have the right to meet with the International Committee for the Red Cross, and that is something we are allowing but in the spirit of the Geneva Convention, we are not going to comment on the timing or the comings and goings of visitations," Senor said. In Amman, a Red Cross spokesman for Jordan said the humanitarian organization aimed to deliver a message from Saddam to his family. "We are going to transfer a Red Cross message from the former president to his family," spokesman Mui Kassis told AFP. Asked whether it would be a written message, Kassis replied: "Yes, there is a special form, that he writes on -- only family news -- and it will be delivered to the family." The Red Cross spokesman said he could not say whether the message would be given to Saddam's daughters in Jordan or to his wife, currently believed to be in Syria. Two of the three daughters of the ousted president, Raghad and Hala, as well as their nine children, took refuge in Jordan on July 31, 2003. The United States formally accepted that Saddam was a prisoner of war on January 9, angering the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, which was demanding he stand trial in Iraq for crimes against humanity. The ICRC oversees the Third Geneva Convention, an internationally recognised and binding set of rules which guarantee minimum standards of treatment for prisoners of war and detainees, including the right to visits from its aid workers. It forbids physical or mental torture, or "any other form of coercion... to secure from them any kind of information whatever". Visits include checks on accommodation, food and health care as well as a prisoner's treatment by guards. Red Cross workers also insist on carrying out a confidential interview with the prisoner, without the direct presence of guards or authorities, and out of earshot. ICRC officials and legal experts have repeatedly emphasised that the Geneva Conventions would not stop Saddam or any other Iraqi detainee facing trial on possible charges of war crimes. About 6,700 security prisoners are being held by the coalition in Iraq. The ICRC visited about 500,000 detainees in 70 countries last year. ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger, who met US officials including Secretary of State Colin Powell last month, hinted at irritation that the former Iraqi leader's case should receive more attention than other prisoners of war. "Why make an exception for him? He's a prisoner of war. We do not speak publicly about conditions of detention," Kellenberger said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in US custody. (AFP/US Army/File)