[Hawk]

Posted on Sat, Jan. 10, 2004

IRAQ | PENTAGON
Hussein declared to be a POW
The general counsel office in the Pentagon has determined that Saddam Hussein is a prisoner of war because of his status as former commander in chief of Iraq's military.
BY MATT KELLEY
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Pentagon lawyers have determined that Saddam Hussein has been a prisoner of war since American forces captured him Dec. 13, a Defense Department spokesman said Friday.

Despite that determination, aides to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were grappling Friday with what to say publicly about the issue. A senior defense official who insisted he not be named said Hussein's legal status was still under review.

Similarly, Secretary of State Colin Powell told CBS News: ''I don't know that he has been formally declared a prisoner of war.'' It was up to the Pentagon, Powell said.

However, Powell said, ``We are certainly treating everybody in our custody in accordance with basic rights and expectations of international agreements that we have.''

Whether or not Hussein is a prisoner of war could be key to how he is treated in captivity and eventually put on trial. The Geneva Conventions on treatment of prisoners of war forbid any kind of coercion in POW interrogations, for example.

Rumsfeld said earlier in the week that Hussein and all Iraqi captives are being treated in compliance with the Geneva Conventions.

He said Hussein's legal status was being reviewed by several U.S. agencies and that no determination had been made.

The general counsel office in the Pentagon -- the Defense Department's top civilian lawyers -- has determined that Hussein is a prisoner of war because of his status as former commander in chief of Iraq's military, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said Friday.

The lawyers determined that no formal declaration of Hussein's status was needed, he said.

In other developments, a British official said Friday that Hussein has given no useful information to U.S. interrogators, who are patiently trying to make the deposed Iraqi dictator feel ''comfortable'' about talking.

However, documents found in Hussein's briefcase have yielded results ''greater than we were ever expecting,'' the official said.

The senior official, who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities were taking their time interrogating Hussein.

The Geneva Conventions say POWs can be tried only for crimes against humanity by an international tribunal or the occupying power, which in this case is the United States.

POW status also would entitle Hussein to meet with representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross. No such meeting has happened. Some human rights groups have complained that other top former Iraqi officials in U.S. custody haven't been given access to Red Cross representatives.

Hussein is being held and interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency. Iraqi officials say he is being held in the Baghdad area.