Iraq says it will prosecute Saddam Hussein on 12 well-documented criminal charges, drawn from a list of 500 criminal counts that authorities had considered filing against the jailed ex-dictator.
Speaking in Baghdad on Sunday a government spokesman also repeated a government prediction that Saddam will go on trial within two months. No trial date has been set.
Saddam is widely expected to face genocide charges for allegedly ordering the 1988 chemical attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja that killed five thousand people. Other charges are expected for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and for the deadly suppression of Shi'ite muslims that began a year later in southern Iraq.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military says it has seized a vast underground insurgent hideout in western Iraq. Authorities say the complex includes fully furnished living spaces, fresh food and a massive munitions cache.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.