Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki pledged on Friday that there would be no delay in the execution of the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"After the endorsement of the court ruling, no one can prevent the execution sentence against Saddam. There will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence," Maliki said in statement released by his office.

"Those who reject the execution of Saddam are insulting the souls of the martyrs of Iraq," said Maliki when receiving families of victims killed during Saddam era.

"Our respect for human rights means we must implement the execution of Saddam and his aides," he said.

Earlier in the day, CNN first quoted a defense lawyer of Saddam Hussein as saying that they were asked by the U.S. officials to pick up belongings of the former Iraqi leader, who has been transferred from U.S. custody to Iraqi authorities.

However, the Iraqi Ministry of Justice later denied the reports, saying the news was untrue and that Saddam is still in custody of Americans now.

Saddam is now being held at U.S. military Camp Cropper near the Baghdad International airport.

On Nov. 5, a panel of five Iraqi judges sentenced Saddam, his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar to death by hanging for the killings of 148 Shiites in Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad.

On Dec. 3, the defense lawyers of Saddam officially appealed to the higher court against the death penalty imposed on Saddam and another two codefendants.

However, the Iraqi appellate court chief announced on Tuesday that the court had upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein and he would be executed within 30 days.

Source: Xinhua