In a statement, Salem Chalabi, director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, modified comments he made in Kuwait on Tuesday, when he said the former president could be handed to Iraqis along with other top detainees before the U.S.-led occupying coalition hands over sovereignty.

"Mr Chalabi stated that the U.S. has indicated that it is willing to hand over individuals in custody -- when indicted -- to the Iraqi Special Tribunal, if the Iraqi Special Tribunal is ready to take custody of them," the statement said.

"When asked if that would be before June 30, Mr Chalabi stated that it is unlikely the tribunal would be ready to take custody of the defendants before June 30."

The statement said it was premature to discuss timetables but that "some individuals may be indicted within the next few months and...should trials with respect to these individuals commence, it would likely be in 2005."

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, in remarks posted on its Web site, said in response to Chalabi's earlier remarks: "When it will be appropriate to hand him...over to Iraqi authorities has not been decided at this point.

"Our position remains as it has been, that we would turn him over at the appropriate time in the appropriate manner."

International lawyers have said that Washington could, in any case, be acting illegally if it handed over Saddam, who has the status of a prisoner of war, to a body other than a sovereign government that is party to the Geneva Conventions.

Iraq ratified the Conventions in the 1950s and so once a new sovereign government is installed it should be in a position to take custody of its former ruler, lawyers said.