Saddam Hussein

Ministers have confirmed that Saddam Hussein is set to face trial once a deal is done between the US and the incoming Iraqi government.

Whilst she sidestepped questions about the whereabouts of the former Iraqi dictator, Baroness Crawley said the high profile prisoner had been visited.

"Saddam Hussein is being held by the United States in a secure location," the minister said on behalf of the Foreign Office.

The US administration was "in discussion" with the Iraqis before he is handed over to  for trial, peers were told.

"The precise details of his trial have yet to be decided," she added.

Pressed on whether any British representatives had been in contact with the former dictator, the minister said: "Saddam Hussein is being held as a prisoner of war by the US. The international committee of the Red Cross visited him in April and May."

Crawley went on to repeat the UK's opposition to the death sentence being passed on Saddam.

"The UK opposes the death penalty as a matter of principle," she said. "If the interim Iraqi authority reintroduces the death penalty we will lobby them to abolish it."

Despite claims that the UK is failing to make its voice heard, the peer said "it is for the United States and the Iraqi authorities to determine when he should be handed over".

For the Conservatives, Lord Howell said there was division between the US and the Iraqi authority on the issue of the timing of Saddam's handover.

He warned that the US was reluctant to hand over the former Iraqi president ahead of the June handover of sovereignty.

The minister added that the government believed that June 30 would equate to the "end of active hostilities" and suggested other prisoners of war would either be tried or released soon after this date.