BAGHDAD, Iraq — Preparations for the execution of Saddam Hussein began taking on a sense of urgency late on Thursday as U.S. and Iraqi officials suggested that he could be hanged within a span of days rather than weeks.
After upholding the death sentence against Saddam on Tuesday for the execution of 148 Shiite men and boys in 1982, an Iraqi appeals court ruled that he must be sent to the gallows within 30 days. But Saddam may not have even that long to live, officials said.
A senior administration official said Thursday that the execution would probably not take place in the next 24 hours but that the timing would be swift. "It may be another day or so," the official said.
Another senior administration official said later Thursday night that Iraqi officials had told the White House to expect an execution on Saturday, Baghdad time.
In Iraq, where the constitution requires that the Iraqi president and his two deputies must sign all execution orders, officials said it was unlikely that legal formalities would stand in the way. The president, Jalal Talabani, had not received the documents by late on Thursday.
But a government official familiar with the process said that little objection would be raised if the execution took place almost immediately. "Even if it happens tonight, no one is going to make an issue out of the procedure," the official said.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser, said there would be no advance notice of the execution because of fears that any announcement could set off violence. When asked who would be invited to attend the hanging, Rubaie said: "No television. No press. Nothing."
He said the execution would be videotaped but that it was unlikely that the tape would be released.
Even with the security fears, there was little appetite among Iraqi officialdom to spare Saddam for much longer. "I hope the decision should be implemented very soon," said Qasim Daoud, a former national security adviser. "Sooner is better because it sends a message that we are determined — we want to get ahead step by step to building a new Iraq, and these messages will help."
Some rights advocacy groups have criticized the haste of the trial and the appeal. Saddam was sentenced to die on Nov. 5 by a court specially set up to judge his years in power, and the appeals court handed down its ruling less than two months later. Saddam, along with two co-defendants, received his death sentence on a narrow case involving only the killings of the 148 Shiites, in the town of Dujail. Further cases were pending, and his trial on charges that he ordered the killings of tens of thousands of Kurds has already started.
Since the appeals court upheld the death sentences, rumors have swept Baghdad that the Iraqi government would move quickly to put Saddam to death. Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki has drawn protests of political meddling in recent months by suggesting publicly that the former dictator should die at the earliest possible date.
Public pronouncements by U.S. officials have been much more muted, as all formal queries have been referred to the government of Iraq, or GOI in Baghdad jargon.
"Saddam Hussein is still in detention in a coalition facility," the U.S. military in Baghdad said in a statement late on Thursday, referring to the U.S.-led coalition of forces. "He will continue to remain in a coalition facility until GOI determines to change that status."
"This is primarily a GOI issue. As for any potential transfer, we do not discuss any coordination" between U.S. military forces and the Iraqis, the statement said.
One U.S. official who works closely with the Iraqi justice system expressed frustration over the criticism that Saddam's trial has received. Considering the difficult security situation in a country emerging from a dictatorship — Saddam's — the trial has been conducted as fairly as possible by the Iraqis, the official said. "I'm sure they gave it full deliberation and I have full confidence in them," the official said.