Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will remain in the physical custody of US forces for the "foreseeable future," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday, apparently contradicting Iraq's new prime minister.
Iyad Allawi told reporters in Baghdad on Sunday that Saddam, arrested in December, would be moved early next month to a new jail with Iraqi guards and limited support from the US-led military.
But Powell, in an interview with CNN from Turkey ahead of a Nato summit, made the distinction between transferring legal responsibility for Saddam to the Iraqis and actually keeping him under guard.
"I would expect that legal custody would be handed over shortly, but physical custody would remain in our hands for the foreseeable future," the chief US diplomat said.
He said discussions were continuing on the "legal transfer, who has the legal authority and responsibility for him, and then there's physical custody, who can best protect him but also best keep him from escaping."
"All those items are being worked out," Powell said.
Allawi, who was named interim prime minister to run the country after the restoration of self-rule on Wednesday, appeared to have a different take on Saddam's fate.
"He will be kept by Iraqis ... We may ask a multinational force to be involved in the protection of the outside, of the outskirts of the prison, but definitely he will be under the jurisdiction of Iraq," he said.
The prime minister said the transfer would happen "very, very soon" perhaps by July 4, and he appeared convinced he had the manpower to hold Saddam securely.
"We have the forces, we have the judicial system," Allawi said.
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