Pentagon- Saddam is a prisoner of war

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

Despite that determination, top press aides to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were grappling Friday with what to say publicly about the issue. A senior defense official who insisted he not be named said Saddam'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."

Whether or not Saddam 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.

The general counsel office in the Pentagon -- the Defense Department's top civilian lawyers -- has determined that Saddam 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 Saddam's status was needed, he said.

U.S. officials have said they plan to turn Saddam over to an Iraqi court for trial.

But 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.

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