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Iraqis should try Saddam, says British ambassador

The transfer of sovereignty to Iraq's interim government on June 30 will include control of prisons and could lead to the handover of former president Saddam Hussein for trial by Iraqis, Britain's UN ambassador said.

The control of prisons has become a highly sensitive issue following revelations of physical and sexual abuse of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

British ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said on Thursday: "It's totally consistent with the transfer of all sovereignty to this government that actually they will control the prisons."

Asked whether that meant custody of Saddam would then be turned over to the interim government, the ambassador indicated it did.

"I think we've always said that at some stage, and as soon as possible, Saddam Hussein should be handed over to the Iraqis for trial by Iraqis. And the sooner we can do that the better," Jones Parry said.

Some UN Security Council members have expressed concern that prisoners aren't mentioned in the US-British draft resolution on the transfer of sovereignty currently being debated. China said it wanted the transfer of control spelled out in the draft because of the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Last month, Iraqi war-crimes tribunal head Salem Chalabi said that Saddam would not be handed over to Iraqi authorities before June 30 and no trial would start before next year.

Chalabi said the US "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.

Saddam has been held in an undisclosed location since his capture by US forces and is being interrogated by the CIA and the FBI. The US has said it intends to hand him over to Iraqis for trial.
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