Saddam trial may be over by June

Saddam and other former regime members may then face a raft of other charges of crimes against humanity, likely starting with a bloody campaign against the Kurds between 1987 and 1988, said Regime Crimes Liaison Kevin Dooley.

A form of indictment related to the alleged Kurdish massacre will probably be issued in the next two months, but any trial against those accused will only start once the current case is over, he told AFP in an interview.

Dooley, a US prosecutor by trade, heads the so-called Regime Crimes Liaison Office, a Baghdad-based body of legal experts set up by the US government in May 2004 to provide support and advice to the Iraqi High Tribunal.

At present, Saddam and seven co-defendants are being tried for the killing of 148 Shias from the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after a failed assassination attempt in 1982.

Despite only convening for seven days since October 19, the court is to start hearing weeks of testimonies from alleged victims and witnesses as well as documentary evidence into the Shia deaths from January 24.