WASHINGTON, Jan 14: Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday called a US military trial of Saddam Hussein unlikely but did not rule it out, and said the United States reserved the right to change his prisoner-of-war legal status.

Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council is setting up a war crimes tribunal to try the former Iraqi president, captured on Dec 13. The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) said last month it had trained Iraqi judges and lawyers to try Saddam Hussein and his entourage on charges that may include genocide and crimes against humanity.

During a Pentagon briefing, Mr Rumsfeld publicly addressed Saddam's status for the first time since the Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States had declared the 66-year-old captive an enemy prisoner of war who was due a host of rights under the Geneva Convention.

Asked whether the Bush administration intended to conduct a US military trial of Saddam or to turn him over to the Iraqi people for trial, Rumsfeld was non-committal, saying that "my impression is that the president (George W. Bush) is leaning toward having the Iraqis play a significant role."

Rumsfeld said a US military trial was "into the lower end of the probability range, I would think". The Pentagon is in the final stages of preparations for US military trials of some of the foreign terrorism suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Critics also have expressed concern over a possible trial of Saddam by Iraqis, saying Iraq under US occupation lacks the people and institutions for a fair trial and calling for proceedings before an international court. Mr Rumsfeld said Saddam could be tried for crimes against the Iraqi people.-Reuters