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| Bush Won't Set Timeline on Saddam Handover | ||
| 2004-06-16 | ||
| WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush insisted Tuesday he must have assurances Saddam Hussein will stay in jail and not return to power before releasing him to Iraq's interim government, refusing to commit to the June 30 timetable envisioned by Iraq's new prime minister. Raising concerns about security arrangements once Saddam is out of U.S. custody, Bush said, "He's a killer. He is a thug. He needs to be brought to trial." Bush said it was legitimate to ask the interim government: "How are you going to make sure he stays in jail?" Bush's reluctance to turn over Saddam raised new questions about the extent of Iraq's authority when the interim government claims sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition on June 30. Bush has encountered widespread skepticism from world leaders about whether the United States truly intends to relinquish control, with 135,000 American troops remaining in Iraq to maintain security. In Baghdad, Iyad Allawi, the interim prime minister, had said the United States would turn over Saddam by the transfer of sovereignty. Saddam has been in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location in Iraq since his capture in December. Salem Chalabi, the Iraqi official in charge of setting up a tribunal to try former government figures, said he expected an arrest warrant filed against Saddam and other former officials before June 30. "We have been working quite hard in the last few days on that, believe me," Chalabi said. Chalabi said he believed Iraqi authorities would have grounds for holding Saddam if and when he was handed over.
He said he wanted to make sure that "when sovereignty is transferred, Saddam Hussein ... stays in jail." "When we get the right answer - which I'm confident we will, we will work with them to do so - then we'll all be satisfied," Bush said. In Baghdad, occupation spokesman Dan Senor suggested that U.S. authorities had grounds to hold Saddam far beyond the handover ceremony, saying the Americans could keep him "until the cessation of hostilities," which, he said, weren't expected to stop on June 30. He said the U.S. goal is to put Saddam "into Iraqi hands sometime after June 30." White House spokesman Scott McClellan said a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last week gave the United States and its occupation partners the right to keep prisoners indefinitely. "It provides authority for the multinational force to continue to detain individuals in Iraq after June 30 and to detain new individuals where it is necessary for security purposes," McClellan said. He refused to say who would decide when it was "necessary for security purposes" for Americans to keep Iraqi prisoners. "Certainly the detention policy is one of the fundamental security issues on which the multinational force and the interim government in Iraq will coordinate closely," McClellan said. At his news conference, Bush defended Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that Saddam had "long-established ties" with al-Qaida, an assertion that has been repeatedly challenged by some policy experts and lawmakers. Bush pointed to terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is accused of trying to disrupt the transfer of sovereignty as well as last month's decapitation of American Nicholas Berg. "Zarqawi is the best evidence of connection to al-Qaida affiliates and al-Qaida," the president said.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 Bush Won't Set Timeline on Saddam Handover So? the press made fools out of themselves B: Exactly! We understand! The old 7-11 derelict should continue to rot under our auspisces until we are good and damn ready to hand him over! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-06-16 1:23:28 PM |
| #4 I saw the news conference with Karazi live and I thought that the press made fools out of themselves. Looked like the harping weenies they are. Considering Sadaam's crimes, Bush's demand seems logical to everyone, except apparently the press. Plus they had Karazi (sp?) there and they almost ignored him to ask this drivel. Doh! Losers. And ...worse, I noticed that the networks only carried Bush's comments on this nothing topic - failing to note Karazi's eloquent comments of personal thanks to GW, which were VERY NEWSWORTHY - but apparently too complementary to Bush. That's why I only watch CNN when I have to. Especially now that their news anchors have dropped in quality from professional to "hoping to improve their resume on CNN in order to qualify for a job on their local news station". |
| Posted by: B 2004-06-16 10:49:39 AM |
| #3 Lets warm up Qusay's old plastics shredder and make it pay per view in the US. I'd settle for a couple of car batteries, an ignition coil, and jumper cables. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-16 10:14:20 AM |
| #2 I disagree Lucky. Lets warm up Qusay's old plastics shredder and make it pay per view in the US. (Make it free for the Iraqi people. Nothing tells a people they are free quite like watching the former dictator slaughtered.) |
| Posted by: Ben 2004-06-16 4:23:44 AM |
| #1 I don't like giving saddam the light of day. May he never be seen again and his memory be of a dirty hermit pulled from a hole. Please do not let the foul prick get another shot at fame! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-06-16 1:01:05 AM |