Saddam To Be Tried Soon

Saddam Hussein could be tried "in the next few weeks" and could be executed if convicted, one Iraqi Governing Council member said Monday. Other council members said a trial would likely begin later -- perhaps four to six months from now.

The trial will begin "very soon, in the next few weeks," said Mouwafak al-Rabii, a Shiite Muslim council member, told The Associated Press. "I can tell you he is going to be the first."

Al-Rabii noted that the U.S.-led occupation authorities have suspended the death penalty only until Iraq has a sovereign government, which is expected by July 1 under a deal with the U.S.-led coalition.

Last week, the council announced a war crimes tribunal to try former members of Saddam's regime.

The former Iraqi president, one of the world's most-wanted fugitives, was captured Saturday by Special Forces along with the Army's 4th Infantry Division conducting a massive raid on a farmhouse just south of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

The tip-off came from an individual who was arrested in Baghdad on Friday and brought to Tikrit on Saturday morning for an interrogation.

An American colonel who led the raid said the captive made clear Saddam was in the area. Soldiers were seconds away from throwing a hand grenade into the hole when Saddam surrendered, the colonel said.

The fallen dictator was hiding in a Styrofoam-covered underground hide-out late Saturday -- a small room at the bottom of a 6- to 7-foot spider hole.

Heavily bearded and disheveled, Saddam did not resist his captives even though he was armed with a pistol.

"My name is Saddam Hussein," he told U.S. troops in English as they pulled him out of the hole. "I am the president of Iraq, and I want to negotiate."

U.S. soldiers replied, "Regards from President Bush."

The exchange was recounted by Maj. Bryan Reed, operations officer for the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.

Saddam's exact whereabouts Monday were unclear. Army officials said he was in a secure location in Iraq. Some broadcast reports, including one from the Arab television station Al-Arabiya, said he had been moved to Qatar.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed eight Iraqi policemen in an attack Monday on a station on Baghdad's northern outskirts, their commander said, as insurgents continued attacks despite the capture.

Hours later, several large explosions reverberated in central Baghdad and smoke rose on the east bank of the Tigris River. The cause was not immediately clear.

Reporters Tour Hideout He went from having personal chefs to apparently having just a few candy bars.

The small farm that hid Saddam was run-down, dirty and rustic -- with no bathroom and little food.

Reporters touring a small hut on the property found a small refrigerator with a few Bounty candy bars, some hot dogs and a can of 7-UP inside. Two more Mars bars were sitting above a makeshift stove.

Dirty dishes were in the sink and dirty laundry on the bed. The only decoration in the small building was a poster of Noah's ark.

Soldiers found few clothes -- two T-shirts, some trousers and a black Arab robe, along with some black moccasins and a pair of slippers.

Saddam had been found in a small room under the front yard, which was strewn with rotten fruit, garbage and empty bottles.

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