Saddam may face death penalty in Iraqi court

SADDAM HUSSEIN could face the death penalty, the head of Iraq's war crimes tribunal said yesterday.

The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has suspended the penalty but it could be brought back by the Iraqi government after the transfer of sovereignty at the end of the month.

Iraq will take legal custody of Saddam and nine other high-profile prisoners soon after the country gains sovereignty on June 30.

But US-led jailers will continue to guard them.

A US official said that the plan is "to transfer approximately 10 high profile, high value detainees, legally transfer them to the Iraqi interim government as soon as they request them which will probably be shortly after July 1."

Commenting on Iraq's suspension of the death penalty, the director of Iraq's war crimes tribunal, Salem Chalabi, said: "The suspension will continue until the sovereign Iraqi government makes a decision to lift the suspension. The Iraqi government has to affirmatively take that step to lift the suspension.

"If the suspension imposed by Ambassador Bremer is lifted then there is the possibility of the death penalty being imposed," he said.

Speaking on BBC1's Breakfast with Frost, Mr Chalabi said talks were under way with coalition forces over the handing over of Iraqi prisoners.

He said they would be transferred "relatively soon" after the June 30 handover of power.

But it would be "some time" before the trials were started.

The first step was to issue arrest warrants before investigations were started properly.

Charges would be filed over the next few months.

He also said "hundreds if not thousands" of witnesses were coming forward with information and a witness protection scheme would be set up. Mr Chalabi also said that the security of prisoners, was his "absolute priority".

He insisted Iraqi judges were up to the task of trying prisoners.

The judicial system, set up by the British in the 1920s, was "a pretty decent system" but had been "played around with" by the previous regime.

Mr Chalabi said work was now under way to re-establish the independence of the judiciary and train judges.