Confirmation that Iraqi authorities were planning to execute Saddam Hussein this weekend came after a day of confusion in Baghdad.

The question of when and where the 69-year-old former dictator will finally meet his end has been shrouded in secrecy at the highest level, amid fears that any formal announcement will set off a violent backlash.

But public speculation has been rife since Iraq’s highest court rejected an appeal against the death penalty earlier this week and said that the deposed president should be hanged within 30 days.

The day began with reports from the US, citing senior White House officials, claiming that the death sentence would be carried out in a matter of days rather than weeks, even as early as tomorrow.

CBS News said that Saddam would be turned over to the Iraqi government within 36 hours, with the aim of carrying out the execution before the Eid al-Adha holiday, which begins at the weekend and will last until at least Thursday.

Iraqi citizens, members of the US-led coalition and international representatives would be present to witness the execution, which will be videotaped by the government, the network reported, quoting an Iraqi National Security Adviser.

"We will video everything," said Mouffak al-Rubaie, according to the report. "All documentation will be videoed. Taking him from his cell to the execution is going to be videoed, and the actual execution will be documented and videoed."

Saddam’s defence lawyers then appeared to fuel speculation that the death was imminent, claiming that the Iraqi government had taken over custody of Saddam from US forces.

However, this was quickly and firmly denied by Iraq’s Justice Ministry, which insisted that the former leader remained in the custody of the US and would not be executed for at least a month.

"It’s none of the Americans’ business to decide when," said one official, adding that the sentence would not be carried out before January 26. Another added that it was unlikely that the execution would be carried out during the period of Eid.

Khalil al-Dulaimi, Saddam’s chief defence lawyer, later confirmed that his client remained in US military custody, but said that he had been called by American officials asking him to appoint someone to collect Saddam’s personal belongings from the US military prison where he is being held.

Mr al-Dulaimi said that he had not yet given that authority but added that "this call means that they will hand him to the Iraqi authorities soon".

His comments were echoed by others in Saddam’s defence team. "The Americans called the defence team to pick up his personal belongings. All these indications show he will probably be executed tomorrow," Najib al-Naimi, told Al Jazeera. And another lawyer, Issam Ghazaoui, said: "We have no information, no one has told us if the President will be executed tomorrow or when…In Iraq anything is possible."

The news that Saddam was allowed a meeting yesterday with two of his half-brothers, in which he gave them his will, further added to suggestions that his death would be sooner rather than later.

One of his defence lawyers said the prison meeting with his half-brothers Watban and Sabawi - who are also both in US military custody - was a chance for Saddam to say goodbye.

"He was in very high spirits and clearly readying himself," Badie Aref told Reuters. "He told them he was happy he would meet his death at the hands of his enemies and be a martyr, not just languish in jail."

Despite some officials in the Iraqi government distancing themselves from the speculation, Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, was quick to step in to assure his fellow citizens that the sentence was very much irrevocable and binding.

Addressing the families of some of Saddam’s former victims, he insisted today there could be no going back on the ruling and there would be "no delay" in seeing it through.

"Our respect for human rights means we must implement the execution of Saddam and his aides. Those who reject Saddam’s execution are undermining the dignity of the martyrs of Iraq," he said, according to his office.

"After the endorsement of the court ruling, no one can prevent the execution sentence against Saddam. There will be neither a revision nor a delay in the implementation of the execution sentence against Saddam and his aides."

Although he is legally in the custody of Iraq, Saddam had guarded over by the US since his capture in December 2003 and is being held at Camp Cropper, a US military prison near Baghdad’s airport, where he will remain until he is handed over to Iraqi authorities.

The former leader was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on November 5 for the killing of 148 Shias in the northern city of Dujail in 1982 – a ruling which was upheld this week by the nation’s highest court, which ordered that Saddam should be executed within 30 days.

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