Bush stalls on handing Saddam to Iraqis

US President George Bush appeared to be at odds with interim leaders in Baghdad yesterday over when deposed dictator Saddam Hussein would be passed to the Iraqi authorities.

Mr Bush said yesterday the US will turn over Saddam to the new Iraqi interim government but declined to set a timetable, saying "appropriate security" must first be in place.

The former Iraqi dictator has been in US custody in an undisclosed location since he was found in December, but his status has been under discussion as the June 30 end of the US-led occupation approaches.

Earlier yesterday, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Saddam and other detainees would be transferred to Iraqi authorities in the next two weeks.

Mr Allawi said Saddam would stand trial "as soon as possible" but gave no date.

But Mr Bush declined to be pinned down on timing, saying: "I want to make sure that when sovereignty is transferred, Saddam Hussein stays in jail."

The president added that the "appropriate time for the transfer of Saddam Hussein" was one of several remaining major issues that the US is working on with the new Iraqi government.

Pentagon officials also said the US would continue to detain up to 5,000 prisoners deemed a threat to the coalition, even after sovereignty is handed to the interim Iraqi leaders. Up to 1,400 prisoners will either be released or transferred to Iraqi authorities.

Mr Allawi sparked the Pentagon reaction when he said he expected to take control of all the detainees, including Saddam, after June 30.

He told the pan-Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera: "All the detainees will be transferred to the Iraqi authorities and the transporting operation will be done within the two coming weeks. Saddam and the others will be delivered to the Iraqis."

It is questionable whether the planned trial in Iraq of Saddam can go ahead amid the current security situation, where daily bombings continue to claim lives.

Saddam was captured last December at a remote farmhouse near Tikrit.

He has been in American custody, at an unknown location, since. According to numerous reports he has given little away in interrogation sessions.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said that Saddam should be charged with crimes or released by June 30 since he was granted prisoner of war status after his capture.