US waits for transfer of power

2004-06-22 20:21

Baghdad - The United States will hand legal custody of Saddam Hussein and an undetermined number of other former regime figures to the interim Iraqi government as soon as Iraqi courts issue warrants for their arrest and request the transfer, a US official said on Tuesday.

However, the United States will retain physical custody of Saddam and the prisoners, while giving Iraqi prosecutors and defence lawyers access to them, the official said.

Word of a deal between the Americans and Iraqis over the status of Saddam after the June 30 power transfer came as an Iraqi mediator said kidnappers of a South Korean businessman extended their deadline for his execution.

The official who briefed reporters about the prisoner custody issue said the Americans will keep Saddam and others under US guard even after the June 30 handover because the Iraqi government does not yet have capacity to hold such prisoners, the official said.

Warrants expected before 30 June

US troops captured Saddam in December near his hometown Tikrit.

"Before we turn over any of the detainees, we have to make sure there is valid Iraqi court order that authorises the government to detain those individuals," the official said. "Once the security detainees are turned over to the Iraqi government, they become criminal detainees subject to criminal due process protections."

Saddam will be in the initial group of prisoners turned over, he said.

Last week, Salem Chalabi, the official in charge of setting up a war crimes tribunal, said he expected the Iraqis to issue the necessary warrants before the transfer of sovereignty June 30.

Elsewhere, Iran said on Tuesday it plans to prosecute eight British navy sailors serving in Iraq on charges of entering Iranian waters, Iran's state-run television said.

They were detained in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway on Monday as they were delivering a patrol boat for the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service.

- AP