He said his team had seen such patients in a Baghdad hospital.

During an interview at a Baghdad hospital where he works as a medical assistant, his eyes glossed with tears.

His declaration came on a day when a marine guarding a Baghdad hospital was shot dead.

Other reports from a Baghdad hospital said a total of five Iraqis had died during the operation.

One 32-year-old doctor at a medium-size Baghdad hospital said doctors now routinely exaggerated the risk of complications, hoping patients would opt against surgery.

They remained in critical condition in a Baghdad hospital late Thursday, Iraqi police and the station's staff members said.

The presence of this international terrorist for two months in a Baghdad hospital required the approval of Saddam's ubiquitous secret police.

Two Baghdad hospitals said Mr. Khalil had been brought in for treatment, and then taken away.

Officials at one Baghdad hospital said at least one person had been killed and a dozen wounded in the strikes on Thursday.

Couso was transported to a Baghdad hospital, where he died during an operation.