UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said last night he does not support the death penalty for Saddam Hussein and emphasised any court trying the former Iraqi leader had to meet international norms and standards.
The UN Security Council will meet later today to discuss the future of Iraq.
Mr Annan, who offered UN help in the judicial process, said he was encouraged by Bush administration comments that Saddam would be treated humanely, "even though this is a treatment he [Saddam] in the past did not accord those who fell into his hands."
But he said the world body had not supported the death penalty in any court it set up previously. "So as secretary-general . . . I am not going to now turn around and support a death penalty."
The president of Iraq's Governing Council, Mr Abdelaziz al-Hakim, said in Paris that Saddam could face execution. He also said he recognised the need for an international role in the proceedings but gave no details.
Mr Annan told reporters it was essential that Saddam's prosecution "should be done through open trials in properly established courts of law which will respect basic international norms and standards, including respect for international humanitarian law".
The UN secretary-general said he hoped the removal of Saddam's "rather long shadow" would speed Iraqi reconciliation but was cautious about when the United Nations, whose Baghdad headquarters were bombed on August 19th, would return to Iraq.
US Ambassador John Negroponte said that Washington hoped to secure Security Council support for its timetable to transfer political power to Iraqis in July.
But Mr Negroponte told reporters he did not expect a resolution from the council, which today reviews the timetable for establishing a new Iraqi provisional government. It will also hear from Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.