Former dictator Saddam Hussein and 11 members of his deposed government have been handed over to the new Iraqi administration to face charges of crimes against humanity.
Despite being technically under the jurisdiction of the new Iraqi administration, they will be guarded by US troops in a US-controlled prison.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi called a news conference yesterday, a day after Iraq regained sovereignty from Washington, to announce the 12 would appear before Iraqi judges tomorrow.
Saddam would be charged with crimes against humanity for a 1988 massacre of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, said Salem Chalabi, a lawyer leading the work of a tribunal that will try the former Iraqi leader.
French lawyer Mr Emmanuel Ludot, one of a 20-strong team appointed by Saddam's wife to represent him, said the former president would refuse to acknowledge any court or any judge.
"It will be a court of vengeance, a settling of scores," Mr Ludot told France Info radio, saying any judge sitting in the court would be under pressure to find Saddam guilty. Mr Ludot said he expected Saddam to say last year's US-led war was illegal.
The other 11 include former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz and Ali Hassan al Majeed, known as Chemical Ali for his role in using chemical weapons.
Mr Allawi's new government is under pressure to demonstrate to ordinary Iraqis that a break from the past has been made, while also showing it is tough on violence blighting the country.
Three US Marines were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad yesterday, raising to 632 the number of US soldiers killed in action since the invasion in March last year.
Saddam, accused by Iraqis of ordering the killing and torture of thousands of people during 35 years of Baathist rule, has been held as a prisoner of war since US forces found him hiding in a hole near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, in December.
Allawi said the US-led multinational force would keep physical custody of Saddam and the other 11 until Iraq's nascent police force was capable of detaining them securely.
The tribunal would give them a fair and open trial, but it would not start for several months, Mr Allawi said.