12 May 2004	Wednesday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KUWAIT, May 11: Saddam Hussein will be handed over to the interim governing council (IGC) before the June 30 hand over of power to face a trial and possible death sentence, a top lawyer coordinating the trial said on Tuesday.

"The coalition forces now have more than 100 detained former regime officials," Salem Chalabi told reporters in Kuwait. "They will be transferred to us before the transfer of power, and they include Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al Majid and Tareq Aziz."

Aziz was Iraq's former deputy prime minister under Saddam. Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in deadly chemical attacks against Iraqi Kurds at Halabja in 1988, was Saddam's feared cousin and commander of southern Iraq.

Washington has pledged to hand sovereignty to an unelected Iraqi government by June 30. There was no immediate confirmation from US officials about a handover of Saddam, or from International Red Cross officials, who visited him at a secret prison in Iraq last month.

Mr Chalabi said the Iraqi trials would begin early next year but Saddam Hussein would not necessarily be the first in the dock. Those found guilty by the tribunal could face the death penalty, said the US-educated lawyer who is director-general of administration for the special tribunal set up to prosecute Saddam Hussein.

"The punishments against those criminals will include executions," Mr Chalabi told reporters upon arrival in Kuwait, where he said he would collect evidence against Saddam.

CHAIN OF COMMAND: Mr Chalabi said prosecutors would seek to establish a chain of command that proved Saddam ordered atrocities, such as a chemical attack on the Kurds in 1988.

"We are now looking into the crimes committed in Iraq in Kurdistan and the uprising of 1991," Mr Chalabi said. "The existing evidence is massive, but organizing it all is a difficult thing.

We will begin transferring the files to the judges towards the end of this year." Salem Chalabi said he would try to meet members of the Kuwaiti judiciary to cooperate with them regarding collection of evidence. -Reuters