BAGHDAD, Feb 9: The first trials of former members of ousted president Saddam Hussein's regime could kick off as early as the end of this month, a western legal expert said on Wednesday.

Several members of the old regime, which fell in April 2003, will face charges of war crimes that carry sentences of death by hanging or firing squad when they are brought before the Iraqi Special Tribunal.

Asked if the trials could start before the end of February, a western legal expert speaking on condition of anonymity said, "It's possible".

He said that after investigative judges wrap up their dossiers and hand in referral sheets to a trial chamber, defence teams are likely to challenge the jurisdiction of the court.

"I'm talking weeks for this to begin," said the expert, without specifying which former regime officials would be brought to the dock first.

In June, the US military handed Saddam and 11 other former regime officials over to Iraqi authorities.

In December, Ali Hassan al-Majid - a Saddam cousin known as "Chemical Ali" - and former defence minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed were summoned for preliminary hearings.

The expert explained that each official could stand in several trials as the dossiers might be compiled in such a way as to focus on a particular crime - such as the 1988 Anfal campaign against the Kurds or the repression of the 1991 Shiite uprising - rather than on individuals.

He also said he did not expect the trials to be protracted as the civil law system used in Iraq tends to expedite proceedings more than the common law system used in the United States or Britain.-AFP