Saddam to hang, but confusion over how soon

BAGHDAD, Dec 29 (Reuters) Senior Iraqi officials today dismissed suggestions from Washington that they would hang Saddam Hussein this weekend and said some in cabinet were pushing for the execution to be put off for a month or more.

But Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has called for the ousted president put to death this year for killing and oppressing Shi'ites, said there would be ''no review or delay'' in the sentence following this week's failure of Saddam's appeal.

And a defence lawyer said he thought Saddam might well die tomorrow after lawyers were told to collect his belongings.

But in a continuation of public confusion at the highest levels and secrecy over the historic proceedings, Iraq's Justice Ministry, which must carry out the execution, denied it had taken custody of Saddam from his US military jailers and said it could not legally hang him for nearly a month.

One senior cabinet official told Reuters that ethnic Kurdish minority leaders were pressing for a second trial, for genocide against Kurds in the 1980s, to conclude before any execution.

''It's none of the Americans' business to decide when,'' a senior Justice Ministry official said after a US official said Saddam could die as early tomorrow. He insisted the ministry could not legally put him to death until January. 26, when 30 days will have elapsed since the appeals court gave its judgment.

With some of Saddam's fellow Sunnis angry at what they see as a political act of vengeance by the US-sponsored court and many Kurds keen to see him first convicted of genocide against them, the timing of Saddam's walk to the gallows is an explosive issue for a country on the brink of sectarian civil war.

Saddam's conviction on November. 5 was hailed by US President George W. Bush as a triumph for the democracy he promised to foster in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. With US public support for the war slumping as the number of American dead approaches 3,000, Washington is likely to welcome the death of Saddam, despite misgivings among many allies about capital punishment.

Two senior Iraqi cabinet members told Reuters they did not expect an execution in the coming days, not least because of a religious holiday lasting until January. 7. The Saddam-era Penal Code bars executions on holidays. But another government source advised reporters to be ready for such news in the coming week.

Najib al-Naimi, a former Qatari justice minister who helped defend Saddam, told Al Jazeera: ''The Americans called the defence team to pick up his personal belongings. All these indications show he will probably be executed tomorrow.'' MORE REUTERS LL RK2114