December 14, 2004
BBC
The trials of former members of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime will begin next week, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said.
In a speech to Iraq's National Council, he said the "symbols" of the former regime would be tried "one by one".
The names of the aides were not given, and he gave no indication of when Saddam Hussein would face trial.
The trial could happen as early as next week, Mr Allawi said, although he did not give a specific date.
Lawyers representing the members of the old regime have said their clients will not recognise the legitimacy of any courts established under US occupation.
Apart from the former president, 11 senior figures are being held in US custody at a secret location, including former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
In other developments on Tuesday:
* At least 12 people are killed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad outside a building used as a training facility for the Iraq National Guard
* Iraqi police kill a senior aide to militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and seized two others, Mr Allawi says
* On a visit to Baghdad, US Army chief Gen Richard Myers says US troop numbers will rise from 138,000 to 150,000 before elections planned for 30 January
* The bodies of 14 men, all of them killed with a single bullet to the head, are found in the restive northern city of Mosul
* The UN refugee agency is closing several of its camps in Iran for Iraqi refugees. It says 107,000 Iraqis have returned since the fall of Saddam Hussein, many of them after spending more than two decades in Iran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4095313.stm