Saddam reported to be 'broken'

Saddam Hussein is a broken man and has supplied intelligence leading to the capture of two top wanted men, officials said yesterday, but violence raged on despite his arrest and suicide bombings killed nine Iraqis.

The US-backed Iraqi Governing Council said Saddam would go on trial facing a possible death penalty for his three decades of ruthless rule, and President George W. Bush said it was up to Iraqis to decide his fate provided the court hearing was fair.

Washington's closest Iraq war ally Britain said yesterday it would play no part in any trial of Saddam Hussein that might lead to his execution.

But London - which abolished capital punishment 40 years ago - also made clear it would reluctantly accept death for the captured ex-dictator if that was what an Iraqi tribunal ruled.

"I found a very broken man," said Governing Council member Muwaffaq al-Rubaiye, who met Saddam on Sunday with Iraq's US governor Paul Bremer a day after his capture by American troops.

"He was, I think, psychologically ruined and very demoralised. His body language showed that he was very miserable," Mr Raubaiye said. "He felt safer with the Americans."

The US military said hours later intelligence from Saddam and documents in his briefcase had led to the capture of two key figures wanted by US-led occupation forces in Iraq.

"It has led to the capture of two important men," Captain Jason Beck of the US 1st Armoured Division told Reuters. He said one was a senior figure associated with Saddam.

Saddam's whereabouts were unclear but officials dismissed reports US forces had whisked him to another country.

Mr Bush told a news conference the United States would play a key role in organising Saddam's trial but Iraqis should decide whether he would face possible execution.

"We will work with the Iraqis to develop a way to try him that will stand international scrutiny," Mr Bush said.

"I've got my own personal views (on the death penalty). This is a brutal dictator. He's a person who killed a lot of people... It's going to be up to the Iraqis to make those decisions," said Mr Bush, former governor of Texas, the US state with the most executions, 312, since 1976.

More details emerged of how Saddam was caught on Saturday in a pit hideout near his northern Iraqi home town of Tikrit.

Despite his unkempt, bewildered look seen around the world on a US military film, he reacted as if still in power.

"I'm Saddam Hussein, I'm the president of Iraq and I'm willing to negotiate," one US official quoted him as saying.

"The response from soldiers was: 'President Bush sends his regards'."

As many Iraqis celebrated Saddam's humiliation, two suicide car bombings at Baghdad police stations killed both attackers and seven other people. More than 32 people were wounded.

Saddam was captured in a so-called Sunni Muslim "triangle", including Baghdad, where most of the attacks have occurred. Saddam, a Sunni, repressed Iraq's Shi'ite majority.

In Tikrit, which long basked in the reflected glory of being his home town, US soldiers used batons to disperse protesters chanting: "We sacrifice our blood and souls for you Saddam."

At a protest in the capital, Iraqi police fired into the air to disperse hundreds of people shouting: "We want Saddam back."

Markets welcomed Saddam's capture. Stocks and the dollar rose and oil prices fell on expectations of fewer attacks on Iraq's oil industry.

Bringing the deposed dictator to justice could be a legal and diplomatic minefield.

Asked if the death penalty could be considered, Governing Council leader Abdelaziz al-Hakim said: "Yes. Absolutely."

Human rights groups say Iraq lacks judges, lawyers and institutions to conduct fair trials without help, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair - Mr Bush's closest ally on Iraq - said he was confident it would manage.

Time magazine, quoting a US intelligence official, said Saddam denied having had weapons of mass destruction. Little evidence has been found of such arms - Mr Bush's reason for waging war to oust Saddam.

"The US dreamed them up itself to have a reason to go to war with us," it quoted Saddam as telling interrogators.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "I'm not holding my breath for any confessional statement from Saddam Hussein."

Saddam, who had urged his troops to go down fighting US-led forces, was armed but surrendered without a shot - unlike his two sons, who died with guns blazing in July.

His compliant end - looking like anything but the commander of a resistance movement - brought contempt.

"The person we saw is Saddam Hussein, collapsed, scared and a coward as he surrendered at the first chance," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said.