US will hand Saddam over - but keep him

The US will hand legal custody of Saddam Hussein and a number of other former regime figures to the interim Iraqi government as soon as local courts issue warrants for their arrest and request the transfer.

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

The Americans will continue to keep Saddam and others locked up and under US guard because the Iraqi government does not yet have capacity to hold such prisoners, he said.

“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.