Jowhar Hussein Al-Souraji, Asharq Al-Awsat

BAGHDAD, 1 February 2004 — Ousted dictator Saddam Hussein remains in Iraq and will be handed over to a special court being set up by the US-appointed Governing Council to face charges of genocide and invasion of neighboring countries, US administrator Paul Bremer said in an interview published yesterday.

“Saddam is in Iraq now, and yes he will be tried publicly by a special Iraqi court when the prerequisites for setting up such a court are completed,” Bremer told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.

“The Governing Council has started setting up the special court and we have spent some funds on that and he (Saddam) will be tried publicly after bringing charges of mass killing and invading neighboring countries against him.”

“Saddam will be handed over to the Governing Council after it finishes setting up the court,” Bremer said.

Asked if Saddam was cooperating with investigators, Bremer replied: “He is not cooperating, but he is not a troublemaker either.”

“He has not given us any important or useful information up to now and has not confessed to the whereabouts of his offshore funds, but we know for sure that he has a lot of money outside Iraq.”

He said: “Saddam was in good health as shown by recent medical exams,” but no new photographs of him will be released before his trial.

“No we cannot give you any new photograph of him until he appears in front of the special court. He cannot be interviewed (by the press) directly or through written questions,” Bremer told the paper.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has insisted on its right to interview Saddam, who was captured by US military on Dec. 13 and confirmed enemy prisoner of war on Jan. 10.

ICRC spokeswoman Nada Doumani told AFP last week that Saddam cannot be tried in Iraq until the country regains its sovereignty due to Genenva Conventions restrictions.

But the United States has insisted that Saddam’s status does not preclude him from being tried in Iraq or elsewhere with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld saying on Jan. 13 that it was improbable that Saddam would be tried by a US military tribunal.

Under a deal signed in November, the US-led coalition occupying the country has promised to cede power to a transitional Iraqi leadership by June 30.

The ICRC oversees the Geneva Conventions, an internationally-recognized set of rules which guarantee minimum standards of treatment for prisoners of war and detainees, including the right to visits from aid workers.