Saddam Hussein to stay in American hands for now, Iraq's war crimes chief says

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein will not likely be handed over to Iraqi authorities for trial before the June 30 transfer of power to an interim government, Iraq's war crimes chief said Wednesday, reversing a claim he made one day earlier.

Salem Chalabi, the head of Iraq's war crimes tribunal, told reporters Tuesday in Kuwait that Saddam would definitely be handed over to the Iraqis before Iraq assumes sovereignty and trials would begin early next year.

"We will put 100 people ... including Saddam Hussein, on trial," he said Tuesday. The suspects, he added, "will be delivered to us by the coalition before the transfer of power."

U.S. authorities disputed the timetable, and later Chalabi told The Associated Press that the Americans would turn over Saddam and other former regime figures "if we are able to hold them in custody."

In a statement Wednesday, distributed by coalition authorities, Chalabi said the United States "has indicated that it is willing to hand over individuals in custody — when indicted — to the special Iraqi court dealing with those cases, if that court is ready to take them."

Chalabi said that it was "unlikely" that the tribunal would be ready to assume custody of the defendants before June 30.

Individuals may be indicted within the next few months and trials would "likely be in 2005," he said.

Chalabi could not be reached for more comment.

No charges have been filed against Saddam's ousted regime, but human rights groups have said the tribunal expects to try leaders for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The United States estimates that Saddam's regime killed at least 300,000 Iraqis. Some human rights groups say the number is closer to 1 million.

Saddam was captured late last year as he was hiding in a hole in the small farming village of Adwar, a short drive from his hometown of Tikrit.