WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is expected to be executed “this weekend,” Bush administration officials told CNN on Thursday.

Hussein will be transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody within the next day, one official said.

More than one administration source confirmed the impending transfer.

But Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend, speaking on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” cautioned that the timing of the execution is up to the Iraqi government.

Two defense attorneys Thursday told Hussein in his jail cell that his death sentence had been upheld.

“He was not surprised at this. But he believes in his fate, and his only concern is the unity of the Iraqi people,” chief defense attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi told CNN in Amman, Jordan.

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