A British newspaper published letters on Sunday which it said were written by former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz from inside a US-run high security camp on the outskirts of Baghdad.
In the letters, hand-written in English and Arabic and published in The Observernewspaper, Mr Aziz pleads for international help to end his "dire situation". The former ally of Saddam Hussein says he is innocent and is being held illegally.
"I have been accused unjustly, but to date no proper investigation has taken place," Mr Aziz writes in one of the letters, which the Observersays were scribbled on pages of his lawyer's diary as recently as last month.
"It is imperative that there is intervention into our dire situation and treatment. It is totally in contradiction to international law, the Geneva Convention and Iraqi law as we know it." In another letter Mr Aziz complains that he and his fellow inmates are totally cut off from the world and are not allowed to see parcels and letters sent by their families.
Mr Aziz, the bespectacled English-speaking face of Saddam's regime until his arrest in April 2003, is being held at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad, along with Saddam and other former members of the government.
Little has been heard about the inmates since they were taken in to custody. Saddam and his 11 top aides are due to go to trial later this year.