The Gamut

A handcuffed and chained Saddam Hussein will be hauled in front of an Iraqi judge within days to hear his arrest warrant, Iraq's national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said in a televised interview.

"We're going to have control of Saddam Hussein.

"We're going to have two American military MPs to hand him over to four Iraqi policemen. They will put a chain (on him) and take him to the waiting room," Rubaie told CBS anchorman Dan Rather.

"The judge will call his name, Saddam Hussein Majid. And they will bring him in... open his chain, handcuff and take him to the judge and the judge is going to give him his rights and his defense and he's going to issue an arrest warrant against Saddam Hussein.

"They're going to put the handcuffs on him. Take him... controlled by Iraqi policemen."

The United States will transfer legal custody of Saddam Hussein and other top prisoners to Iraqi authorities as soon as Iraqi courts issue the necessary warrants, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

But U.S. forces won't let go of the former dictator, even after Iraq regains its sovereignty next week, because it doesn't have a prison strong enough to hold him, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

President Bush said yesterday he was not ready to set a date for handing over custody of Saddam Hussein to Iraq's interim government, saying he wants firm assurances Saddam would not somehow be freed or avoid a criminal trial.

Bush, addressing reporters beside Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, noted that as a sovereign nation, Iraq would ultimately assume custody of Saddam and authority over his legal fate. But Bush made clear that he needed more confidence that the former Iraqi president could not evade justice.

"Nobody wants Saddam Hussein to leave, and when there's a transfer of responsibility, we want to make sure that he is secure," the president said. "He's a killer. He's a thug. He needs to be brought to trial."

The interim prime minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi, and the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, have disagreed over who will have custody of Saddam Hussein once power is transferred to an Iraqi regime on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said the former dictator is to be moved to a new jail with Iraqi guards and limited support from the US-led military at the start of July.

Speaking in a television interview, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said legal custody would be handed over soon but maintained that Sadaam would be in US hands for the foreseeable future.