US to put Saddam and his 'dirty dozen' on trial for war crimes

The American government is preparing war crimes charges to bring against Saddam Hussein and most of his inner circle if the Baghdad leadership is ousted. The Iraqi President's two sons and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, are among those who could be charged.

Pentagon lawyers have been steadily assembling evidence that could be used against up to a dozen senior Iraqi officials in trials similar to that of the former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic, who is being tried at a UN tribunal in The Hague.

"The top people [in the Iraqi regime] must go," the US Under-Secretary of State, John Bolton, told The Washington Post. He said the rebirth of Iraq would require the removal of people "who are so fundamentally part of Saddam's entourage that their remaining in power would have the problem persist".

The US and France are edging towards resolving diplomatic differences over Iraq and the way may soon be clear for the full Security Council to adopt a resolution to resume weapons inspections. Privately, diplomats have noted signals that Paris and Washington were moving towards each other from entrenched positions.

Along with President Saddam, the list of those who could be tried for war crimes includes his two sons, Uday and Qusay, who both have a reputation for brutality. Ali Hassan Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali" because of his role in the use of chemical weapons against Kurds in northern Iraq in the early 1990s, is also listed.

US officials say they envisage several tiers of prosecutions with President Saddam and the so-called "dirty dozen" being the first priority. It is likely that any such trials would take place in Iraq, given America's disapproval of the UN tribunal in The Hague and the fact that the International Criminal Court – which the Bush administration does not support – can only hear cases relating to crimes committed since July 2002.

In gathering its evidence, the US has been liaising with a number of Iraqi exile organisations and pressure groups including Indict, a London-based organisation that has campaigned for the past four years to bring criminal charges against the Iraqi regime.