Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian didn't eat anything Friday and Saturday morning, said a principal with the Taipei Detention House on Saturday.

According to sources who visited Chen on Friday, he hadn't taken any food over the past two days in an attempt to express his dissatisfaction against prosecutors. But the jail principal clarified that Chen didn't eat only on Friday, and he had some water on Saturday morning.

But as of Saturday noon, Chen hadn't made any official declaration of his fasting and its reason.

Last year in jail, Chen started fasting for 14 days starting on Nov. 12. He was then forced to see a doctor.

Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen were charged with embezzling 104 million New Taiwan dollars (US$3.15 million) in public funds and accepting bribes of about US$9 million in a land purchase deal.

Currently, nine of the 14 defendants linked to Chen's case have pled guilty to all the charges against them. Chen's wife pled guilty to some of the crimes for which she was accused.

On Feb. 24, Chen will stand trial again. Taiwan media speculated that Chen had his reasons for choosing to fast ahead of the trial.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2009)