Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3327711.stm
Saddam to stand trial in Iraq
Saddam Hussein was captured near his home town
Saddam Hussein will be tried in a special Iraqi court, the head of Iraq's Governing Council has said.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim said international monitors could observe the trial, which would take global legal standards into account.
He did not say whether the former Iraqi president, captured at the weekend, would face the death penalty.
Earlier, another member of the council said Saddam Hussein was being held in the Baghdad area.
Meanwhile, at least 10 people were killed in Baghdad on Wednesday when a fuel tanker exploded at a busy crossroads, engulfing a minibus.
It is still not clear what caused the explosion.
The US military said it was a traffic accident, not an attack. But Iraqi police said the tanker may have been driven by a suicide bomber on his way to attack a nearby police station.
'Criminals'
Mr Hakim made his comments on Saddam Hussein's trial after talks with the UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London.
"(Saddam Hussein) will be tried and after that we will do what the judge and the court will decide", Mr Hakim told reporters.
"The court will look at all the allegations against Saddam and the other criminals of the Baath Party, and they will decide how to deal with these issues according to international legal standards."
Just days before Saddam Hussein's capture, the Iraqi council announced that a tribunal would be set up to try members of the former regime.
The UK is against the use of the death penalty, but US President George Bush has said the ex-Iraqi leader should pay the "ultimate penalty" for his crime - a signal that he favoured execution.
However, both the UK and US have stressed that it is up to Iraqis to decide the fate of their ousted leader.
Speculation over the ousted leader's whereabouts has been intense since his capture on Saturday near his home town of Tikrit. The US military has only said that Saddam Hussein is being held at "an undisclosed location" in Iraq.
Council member Mowaffaq al-Rubaie went further, telling reporters: "Saddam Hussein is present in an area of greater Baghdad... God willing... he will be tried in Iraq in public by an Iraqi court."
He was responding to media reports that had suggested that Saddam Hussein had been flown to the Gulf state of Qatar.
On Wednesday Arab League officials said a fact-finding delegation, headed by Assistant Secretary General Ahmad Bin Heley, would leave for Iraq on Thursday.
The team will meet Council members, visit mass graves and discuss human rights violations by the former regime.
Saddam to stand trial in Iraq
Saddam Hussein was captured near his home town
Saddam Hussein will be tried in a special Iraqi court, the head of Iraq's Governing Council has said.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim said international monitors could observe the trial, which would take global legal standards into account.
He did not say whether the former Iraqi president, captured at the weekend, would face the death penalty.
Earlier, another member of the council said Saddam Hussein was being held in the Baghdad area.
Meanwhile, at least 10 people were killed in Baghdad on Wednesday when a fuel tanker exploded at a busy crossroads, engulfing a minibus.
It is still not clear what caused the explosion.
The US military said it was a traffic accident, not an attack. But Iraqi police said the tanker may have been driven by a suicide bomber on his way to attack a nearby police station.
'Criminals'
Mr Hakim made his comments on Saddam Hussein's trial after talks with the UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London.
"(Saddam Hussein) will be tried and after that we will do what the judge and the court will decide", Mr Hakim told reporters.
"The court will look at all the allegations against Saddam and the other criminals of the Baath Party, and they will decide how to deal with these issues according to international legal standards."
Just days before Saddam Hussein's capture, the Iraqi council announced that a tribunal would be set up to try members of the former regime.
The UK is against the use of the death penalty, but US President George Bush has said the ex-Iraqi leader should pay the "ultimate penalty" for his crime - a signal that he favoured execution.
However, both the UK and US have stressed that it is up to Iraqis to decide the fate of their ousted leader.
Speculation over the ousted leader's whereabouts has been intense since his capture on Saturday near his home town of Tikrit. The US military has only said that Saddam Hussein is being held at "an undisclosed location" in Iraq.
Council member Mowaffaq al-Rubaie went further, telling reporters: "Saddam Hussein is present in an area of greater Baghdad... God willing... he will be tried in Iraq in public by an Iraqi court."
He was responding to media reports that had suggested that Saddam Hussein had been flown to the Gulf state of Qatar.
On Wednesday Arab League officials said a fact-finding delegation, headed by Assistant Secretary General Ahmad Bin Heley, would leave for Iraq on Thursday.
The team will meet Council members, visit mass graves and discuss human rights violations by the former regime.
