Saddam aides refusing food: US military

"It appears that some of the other 11 high-value detainees have been rejecting food, although they continue to snack and to take on liquids," Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, deputy director of detainee operations in Baghdad, told Reuters.

"We're trying to ascertain who is turning their food back and why," he said.

Johnson said those who had rejected food began doing so on Saturday, but some had also eaten on Sunday morning.

"There are a lot of conflicting reports about what they have eaten and when," he said, flatly denying Saddam, who is held separately from the others, was among those not eating.