8:51pm UK, Thursday May 13, 2004

Saddam Hussein's lawyer is set to file a suit for war crimes against Britain at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Veteran French lawyer Jacques Verges says the lawsuit is on behalf of "the families of prisoners of the coalition in which Britain participates".

Saddam was captured last December

"The reality of torture and systematic abuses of the dignity of Iraqi prisoners, sometimes followed by murders, both by US and British troops is no longer in question," the text of the complaint reads.

It adds: "There are strong presumptions that the facts that form the basis of our complaint were committed with the participation of nationals of the United Kingdom, which unlike the US ... is a party to the (court's) statute.

The US does not recognise the jurisdiction of the international court, which began work in July 2002 with the aim of "ensuring that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished".


The International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International have sent information to the British and American Governments alleging abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their soldiers.

Pictures of torture by US troops taking place at Abu Ghraib prison were published this month on the front pages of newspapers around the world.

The military is currently compiling courts martial cases.

The International Criminal Court declined comment.

Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces in the northern Iraq town of Tikrit last December.

Mr Verges has been dubbed the "devil's advocate" after representing the Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Carlos the Jackal in the past.

The 80-year-old lawyer has also represented former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.