According to al-Guardian, Saddam Hussein spends his days reading the Koran (an odd activity for a dictator often portrayed as “secular”), tending his garden (he has a garden?), writing (no doubt bad) poetry, and snacking on cookies and muffins provided by his brutal American kidnappers: Saddam Spends Time Gardening, Eating Muffins.

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is passing his time in solitary confinement by reading the Koran, writing poetry, gardening and snacking on cookies and muffins, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.

Iraq’s human rights minister Bakhtiar Amin said Saddam’s health was “generally good” but he was being treated for high blood pressure and had suffered a chronic prostate infection.

“One of the poems is about (U.S. President) George Bush, but I had no time to read it,” said Amin, a Kurd originally from Kirkuk, who had spent much of his life in exile in Europe and the United States.

No surprise that this story comes through al-Guardian, who have made no secret of their editorial sympathy for Saddam’s pan-Arabist cause.