Saddam trial expected 'in 2 months'

BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein could go on trial for crimes against humanity within two months, far earlier than expected, Iraq's new president Jalal Talabani says.

Asked in an interview televised on CNN when Saddam's trial would begin, Talabani said: "I hope within two months."

Iraqi prosecutors and their US advisers say a trial is more likely in 2006, after some of Saddam's lieutenants have been tried, to help build the case against the former dictator.

Iraqi leaders hope that trials of Saddam and his aides will help restore public confidence, sapped by relentless insurgent violence and political bickering that delayed the formation of a cabinet for months.

In the latest losses for US-led forces in Iraq, four Italians, four Americans and an Iraqi were killed in two aircraft crashes, officials said.