US 'working on' return of Syrians

The US is still trying to track down Saddam Hussein and his sons

Five Syrian border guards captured during a strike by the US military based in neighbouring Iraq will be returned as soon as details can be worked out, US officials have said.

The US State Department "is working with the Pentagon regarding the timing and particulars of the repatriation," a US embassy spokeswoman in Damascus said on Saturday.

The US has been treating the men for injuries but has not revealed how the men were hurt.

The US raid was carried out on 18 June after intelligence apparently suggesting a convoy in western Iraq was carrying senior members of Saddam Hussein's former regime.

There has been speculation that the convoy may have included the ousted Iraqi leader and one of his sons. But Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said earlier this week that he had no reason to believe Saddam Hussein had been killed.

An unidentified Iraqi was killed in the raid, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday.

"They've only been able to confirm one individual was killed, but that doesn't mean that only one individual was killed," said Lawrence De Rita, a special assistant to Mr Rumsfeld who is acting as the Pentagon's chief spokesman.

He said three of the Syrians had been treated at a US military hospital in Baghdad and two received treatment in the field for minor wounds.

"All five are now together, have been treated, are ambulatory and are awaiting return which we expect will be as soon as we can work (it) out," Mr De Rita said.

Neither the US or Syria has confirmed whether the raid was carried out on Syrian or Iraqi soil.

On Wednesday, Syria made an official protest about the incident and demanded the soldiers be returned for treatment in Syria.

The authorities in Damascus have been under intense US pressure since the war in Iraq to refuse to give sanctuary to Saddam Hussein or other Iraqi fugitives.

The search for the deposed leader has intensified since the recent capture of a close aide, Mahmud al-Tikriti, who has told US interrogators that Saddam Hussein and his sons are still alive.