Saddam Hussein was taken to prison hospital yesterday and force-fed through a tube after spending 16 days on hunger strike.

The chief prosecutor in his trial, Jaafar al-Moussawi, said the former dictator would be too ill to attend court when it resumed sitting today.

Saddam’s lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, said, “The American military are force-feeding the president to break his will and end his hunger strike to protest against the trial and its illegality.”

Hopes for stability in Iraq suffered major setbacks as 56 people were killed only a day after the government launched national reconciliation talks.

In the worst incidents, at least 34 died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Baghdad Shiite slum of Sadr City and around 20 died and 150 were wounded when a car bomb exploded in the northern town of Kirkuk, setting wooden shops on fire, suffocating many people, and igniting chemicals stored nearby.

News of Saddam’s move to hospital was given after the chief prosecutor visited the prison where he is being held. Saddam’s health was “unstable,” he said.

Asked if the force-feeding had resulted in an improvement, he said, “No, it is not stable yet.”

Saddam is said to have consumed only sugared tea and a nutrient supplement since July 7. He said he was protesting at the procedures of the court and inadequate security provided for defense lawyers.

A member of the team, Khamis al-Obeidi, was murdered last month in an attack blamed by the defense on Shiite militias. He was the third defense lawyer to be killed since the trial started last October.

Three co-defendants also have been on hunger strike. Their condition is not known. All had demanded a 45-day recess to allow the defense to prepare its closing statements.

Saddam is accused of authorizing the killing of 148 Shiites in the town of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt on him in 1982. On August 21 he also will stand trial for the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.