IRAQ Saddam to face charges

The Red Cross says the former dictator must be charged or released.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi authorities hope to file criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and others in the former regime before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty to the new government, a senior official said today.
Gunmen, meanwhile, opened fire on a three-vehicle convoy of contractors working for the U.S.-led coalition, killing some of them, a U.S. military spokesman said. It was the second deadly attack on a convoy in two days.
Insurgents also attacked two oil pipelines in southern Iraq, cutting exports from the south by half, officials said.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Saddam and other detainees would be transferred to Iraqi authorities in the next two weeks. Allawi said Saddam would stand trial "as soon as possible" but gave no specifics on timing.
Arrest warrant
"I suspect that there will be an arrest warrant filed not only against Saddam but also against the other high-ranking officials before June 30," said Salem Chalabi, the official in charge of setting up a tribunal to charge members of the ousted regime.
"We have been working quite hard in the last few days on that, believe me," Chalabi said.
Chalabi said that he believes Iraqi authorities will have premises for holding Saddam if and when he is handed over by the Americans, who have been holding the former dictator at an undisclosed location in Iraq since he was arrested in December.
Status discussed
Saddam's status has been under discussion as the U.S.-led occupation's end approaches.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has indicated that under international law, Saddam must be charged or released after the formal end of the occupation since he was detained as a prisoner of war.
Interim President Ghazi al-Yawer said President Bush was eager to hand over Saddam, but Iraq must have adequate security guarantees in place before taking custody.
"Even President Bush himself was asking me," al-Yawer said after returning from the G-8 summit in Sea Island, Ga. "The United States is very keen to hand over the ex-president to the Iraqi authorities."
Al-Yawer cautioned there must be adequate security for Saddam.
"We must first make sure that we can maintain protection for his life until he goes to trial," al-Yawer said. "We must make sure that the trial goes as a legal process, he has his own fair chance of defense and the government has its own chance."
Coalition spokesman Dan Senor said that the United States wanted Saddam tried by an Iraqi court and that talks were under way to determine how and when.
"I wouldn't call them negotiations," Senor said. "I would call them discussions. Both sides have an interest in handing over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqis. The only matter is when is the appropriate time."
White House press secretary Scott McClellan also said the United States is discussing Saddam's transfer with the interim government.
"We have previously made it clear that he will be turned over to face justice from the Iraqi people at the appropriate time. That's still the case," he said.
U.S. officials have said they plan to continue to hold up to 5,000 prisoners deemed a threat to the coalition even after the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty at the end of this month. They say as many as 1,400 detainees will either be released or transferred.
Ambushed convoy
In today's ambush of the convoy of contractors, gunmen opened fire from a highway overpass west of Baghdad, disabling two of the vehicles and killing an unknown number of people, said U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt.
A third vehicle -- hit by small arms fire -- made it safely to a coalition base, Kimmitt said. He did not say who the contractors were working for or give their nationalities.
Car bombing
On Monday, a car bomb destroyed a convoy of Westerners in Baghdad, killing at least 13 people, including three General Electric workers and two bodyguards. The blast was the second vehicle bombing in Baghdad in two days.
The dead included three employees of Granite Services Inc., a wholly owned, Tampa, Fla.-based subsidiary of General Electric Co., and two security contractors employed by Olive Security of London. The Westerners included one American, two Britons, one Frenchman and one victim of undetermined nationality, officials said.
U.S. officials said 62 people were injured, including 10 foreign contractors. The foreign victims were helping to rebuild power plants, Allawi said.
In southern Iraq, explosions ripped through two pipelines today in attacks blamed on Saddam loyalists and Al-Qaida, the Iraqi South Oil Co. said.
Firefighters were able to control the fire that broke out on pipelines in the Hamdan area just north of Faw, but the damage was so extensive that pumping had to be halted, said South Oil official Samir Jassim.
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