The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Baghdad

US forces will not hand over "Chemical Ali" and two other cohorts of Saddam Hussein for execution until a legal row is settled, the US embassy said Monday, responding to a bitter attack by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. "There continue to be differences in viewpoint within the government of Iraq regarding the necessary Iraqi legal and procedural requirements for carrying out death sentences issued by the Iraqi High Tribunal," US spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo told AFP. "Coalition forces will continue to retain physical custody of the defendants until this issue is resolved," she said. On Sunday, Maliki accused the US embassy of playing an "unfortunate role" in preventing the handover of the three condemned men, who, like other members of Saddam's ousted regime, are in US military custody. He told a press conference in Baghdad that his government was "determined" that the executions be carried out. But Nantongo was adamant the condemned men would not be handed over for hanging before the legal hitches are resolved.