US President George W. Bush said he had to have assurances that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will stay in jail and not return to power before releasing him to Iraq's interim government, in a refusal to commit to the June 30 timetable envisioned by Iraq's new prime minister.
Bush said on Tuesday it was legitimate to ask the interim government: "How are you going to make sure he stays in jail?"
"He's a killer. He is a thug. He needs to be brought to trial," Bush said.
Bush's reluctance to turn over Saddam raised new questions about the extent of Iraq's authority when the interim government claims sovereignty from the US-led coalition on June 30. Bush has encountered widespread skepticism from world leaders about whether the US truly intends to relinquish control, with 135,000 US troops remaining in Iraq to maintain security.
Asserting anew that the new government would be sovereign, Bush backed away from a US confrontation with Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose troops have led an insurgency against the US-led occupation. Bush said it would be up to the Iraqi authorities to deal with al-Sadr, who has been named by US officials in an arrest warrant for the assassination of a moderate rival cleric.
"When we say we transfer full sovereignty, we mean we transfer full sovereignty," Bush said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"And they will deal with him appropriately," Bush added.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
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