Red Cross visits Saddam as Bremer pours cold water on early Iraq polls.

(From Agence France Presse)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited detained and deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, while the country's US overseer said technical headaches could delay direct elections by more than a year.

A contingent of Japanese ground troops meanwhile left for Iraq via Kuwait as Tokyo beefed up security at hundreds of key facilities amid fears of a terror attack on its soil.

"Two ICRC representatives, including a doctor, visited Saddam Hussein Saturday in Iraq and were able to stay with him long enough for a physical and mental evaluation," ICRC spokeswoman Nada Dumani said from the Jordanian capital Amman.

"In accordance with its rules, the ICRC is unable to give any …