Saddam Hussein Remains in U.S. Custody Ahead of Execution
Friday , December 29, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein remained in U.S. custody Friday afternoon, but he was expected to be turned over to the Iraqi government imminently so that he can be hanged before New Year.
A U.S. military official told FOX late Friday that U.S. troops were expected to transfer custody before the day was out.
A U.S. source in Baghdad said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wanted to carry out the Butcher of Baghdad's execution as early as Thursday night, but that it was delayed for logistical reasons, and because of confusion over the Iraqi constitution and the law that governs the tribunal that convicted him of murder.
The source said Al-Maliki wants Saddam to be hanged as soon as possible for security reasons, but that dates and times keep jumping around.
Iraqi General Abdl Kareem Khalaf told FOX News emergency procedures have been implemented in the former dictator's Salahadin province, where Saddam's hometown of Tikrit is, as well as Diyala and Mosul provinces, which have Sunni majorities. The emergency measures include more Iraqi army and police forces and more checkpoints.
Despite the beefed up security, Khalaf said he had "not received the date of the execution yet."
Earlier, a U.S. military official said the Iraqi government was "anxious to get Saddam's execution done," and that it was likely to be carried out before the New Year -- possibly even within 24 hours.
The official said American forces were in the process of finalizing Saddam's transfer to Iraqi custody, and to the location where he will be executed.
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Several U.S. officials had said they were not ruling out the possibility that Saddam would be hanged as early as Friday. But, as of midday in Baghdad, a U.S. military official said the deposed dictator remained in U.S. detention.
Saddam must be handed over to Iraqi authorities before he is hanged.
"The execution of his sentence is a Government of Iraq issue and we will work with them to support them," the official told FOX News. "We will not discuss any transfer details due to security reasons."
Iraqi officials reported that two half-brothers visited Saddam in his jail cell on Thursday, and Khalil al-Dulaimi, Saddam's chief lawyer, said U.S. officials had called him to pick up the personal effects.
"Upon his request, his two half brothers ... were brought to him and spent some time in his cell," Badee Izzat Aref, a member of Saddam's defense team, told The Associated Press in a telephone call from Dubai.
"Saddam handed his brothers his personal belongings," Aref said.
A senior commander at the Iraqi defense ministry also confirmed the meeting, and said that Saddam handed over his will to one of his half-brothers.
A spokesman for the High Tribunal court that convicted Saddam denied that Saddam's relatives visited him.
Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail in 1982. The court said the former dictator should be hanged within 30 days.
The startling news that the execution could come before 2007 came on the same day al-Dulaimi implored world leaders to intervene saying Saddam should enjoy protection from his enemies as a "prisoner of war."
"According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary," al-Dulaimi said.
"I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities," he told The Associated Press.
Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI's top prelate for justice issues and a former Vatican envoy to the U.N., condemned the death sentence in a newspaper interview published Thursday, saying capital punishment goes against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
After Saddam's death sentence was handed down last month, Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged Iraq to ensure a fair appeals process and to refrain from executing Saddam even if the sentence is upheld.
Some international legal observers and human rights groups have also called Saddam's trial unfair because of alleged interference by the Shiite-dominated government. There has also been internal debate among Iraqis about legal procedures surrounding the timeframe and whether the presidency is required to approve the execution.
"The law does not say within 30 days, it says after the lapse of 30 days," said Busho Ibrahim, deputy justice minister. There was no immediate explanation for the conflicting claims.
Al-Dulaimi warned that turning over Saddam to the Iraqis would increase the sectarian violence that already is tearing the country apart.
"If the American administration insists in handing the president to the Iraqis, it would commit a great strategic mistake which would lead to the escalation of the violence in Iraq and the eruption of a destructive civil war," he said.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there was concern about the potential for violence in carrying out the execution.
"I'm sure the Iraqi government is thinking through that and working with the coalition in terms of the impact that could have."
Fox News' Nick Simeone and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
