Baghdad — Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi declared that Saddam Hussein will be transferred to Iraqi legal custody on Wednesday and will face charges before an Iraqi court the following day.
Mr. Allawi promised an open proceeding when Mr. Hussein faces war-crimes charges, including genocide. Eleven other "high-value detainees" also are expected to face justice, he told reporters Tuesday during his first news conference since the U.S.-led coalition handed over sovereignty to his government on Monday.
"I know I speak for my fellow countrymen when I say I look forward to the day former regime leaders face justice," he said.
The trials for Mr. Hussein and 11 others will not occur for months, however, and he urged the Iraqi people to be patient. He acknowledged that more than one million Iraqis are missing as a result of events that occurred during the former regime — and that many Iraqis want justice done.
He insisted that Mr. Hussein must receive a "just trial, a fair trial."
"We would like to show the world that the new Iraq government means business and wants to do business and wants to stabilize Iraq and put it on the road toward democracy and peace," Mr. Allawi said. "We want to put this bad history behind us and move toward a spirit of national unity and reconciliation in the future."
The former Iraqi leader will remain in a U.S.-run jail because the Iraqi government lacks a suitable prison.
Mr. Hussein, who was captured by U.S. troops in Dec. 13, is being kept at an undisclosed location in or near Baghdad and has been interrogated by the CIA and FBI.
The tribunal that will try Mr. Hussein has a budget of $75-million (U.S.) ($101-million Canadian). It will rely on a mix of Iraqi criminal law, international regulations such as the Geneva Convention and experiences of bodies such as the Rwanda war-crimes tribunal.
The U.S. Justice Department has been gathering evidence for a war-crimes case against Mr. Hussein, while other international groups have been sifting through the mass graves where U.S. officials say victims of Mr. Hussein's regime were buried.
Mr. Hussein's military also used chemical weapons against troops and civilians during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and during a Kurdish uprising.
Mr. Allawi said the Iraqi cabinet is still discussing whether to reinstate the death penalty.
Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan said Mr. Hussein could have a foreign lawyer — if the Iraqi lawyers' association agrees.
