BAGHDAD, 6 September 2004 — Iraq’s interim government said yesterday that toppled leader Saddam Hussein and his top aides would go on trial within weeks and announced the capture of Saddam’s trusted lieutenant Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri. However, the commander of the Iraqi National Guard, whose troops were reported to have battled with Ibrahim’s supporters, denied knowledge of any such operation in the area and the US military said they had no information on the capture of the sixth most wanted Iraqi on a list of 55.

Iraqi Minister of State Kasim Daoud told a news conference in Kuwait City after talks with top officials that “Saddam Hussein and his band will stand trial within a period of weeks.”

Asked if the United States will play any role in the trials, he said: “We have barred the US government from playing a role. How can we allow a foreign government to have a role in Saddam Hussein’s trial? No... Saddam Hussein will be tried by the Iraqi judiciary and it will issue its just sentence against him.”

In mid-August, Iraq’s Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged an Iraqi court to speed up proceedings against Saddam. Saddam was arraigned before an Iraqi judge on July 1 and charged with crimes against humanity. Several of his top aides also appeared separately before the same judge for their arraignment.

Despite abundant details provided by the Iraqi National Guard on the circumstances of Ibrahim’s capture in his hometown of Ad-Dawr, near Tikrit, there was little or no evidence to support the claim.

The US military stressed it was unlikely such an operation would have been carried out without its knowledge, and even top Iraqi officials denied the most wanted fugitive from the former regime had been netted.

“Iraqi national guards and US forces obtained intelligence that Ibrahim was in an Ad-Dawr clinic,” guard commander, Col. Abdullah Juburi, said in Tikrit. “They surrounded the area and, as he was leaving the clinic, they arrested him.”

Several Iraqi officials, including an Interior Ministry spokesman and Minister of State Daoud, confirmed the reports, elaborating on the deadly clashes which reportedly pitted the National Guard against armed supporters of Ibrahim.

But the announcements took a farcical twist when the same Iraqi officials abruptly stopped answering their phones.

“Our forces did not take part in any operation and did not capture Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri and we do not have any information concerning the subject,” said Maj. Gen. Ahmed Khalaf Salman, who is National Guard commander for the central region where the capture reportedly took place.

Doctors and nurses at the Tikrit clinic where Ibrahim was reportedly treated also said they did not see anyone being detained.

Asked about the flurry of denials, Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdelrahman, who had previously confirmed the arrest and provided abundant details about its circumstances, said: “Call the Defense Ministry because these are the people who told us this story.”

The US military said it did not have custody of Ibrahim, adding its troops were not involved in any such operation.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi militant group was quoted by Al-Jazeera TV as saying it had captured four Jordanian truck drivers who it claimed were delivering items for US forces. The group called itself the Shoura Council of Fallujah Mujahedeen.

— Additional input from agencies