Baghdad: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has given orders for British and US
prisoners of war to be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention, Information
Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf said on March 22.
"We will strive to carry out the President's orders despite all the abominable
crimes that are being committed against the Iraqi people by this international band
of thugs," Sahhaf told reporters.
The orders, which the minister said had been issued on March 21, marked a sharp
change in Baghdad's position.
On March 21, Sahhaf had said that coalition forces were "not soldiers, they are
mercenaries to which international Law does not apply".
