During a rare television interview, President Bush Tuesday night called for the execution of Saddam Hussein saying he should face “the ultimate penalty.” But he said Hussein’s fate should be left to the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the CIA is now heading up the interrogation of Hussein although the captured leader remains in military custody.

Fighting between U.S. troops and members of the Iraqi resistance continued. West of Baghdad Tuesday, U.S. troops said they killed 11 Iraqis who were planning an ambush. Meanwhile in Baghdad at least 10 people died today and 15 were injured after a fuel tanker exploded. Police said the tanker collided with a bus setting off a bomb that was meant for a nearby police station. On Monday at least two Iraqi police stations came under attack leaving nine dead.

Meanwhile in Samarra, U.S. forces raided the city arresting 80 Iraqis over the past two days. Agence France Press reports US troops stormed into houses in the middle of the night and blew up doors and gates with explosives to gain access to locked homes. Pro-Saddam rallies were reportedly held in Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul.

At the Vatican, a senior Cardinal strongly criticized the U.S. for releasing video footage of Saddam Hussein where the captured man was handled “like a cow.”

The Cardinal, Renato Martino, said “I feel pity to see this man destroyed. Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears. I had a sense of compassion for him.” The Cardinal also reiterated the Vatican’s opposition to the death penalty.

In South Korea, the government announced today that it would send 3,000 troops to Iraq in support of the occupation.

And France and Germany have issued a joint statement with the United States calling for a substantial reduction of Iraq’s staggering 120 billion dollar debt next year.