The plans bypass the international war crimes tribunals that have been used after other conflicts, most recently the former Yugoslavia.

"We are of the opinion that an international tribunal for the current abuses is not necessary," said Pierre Richard Prosper, US ambassador for war crimes issues.

Hays Parks, a special assistant to the army's judge advocate general, said war crimes investigations already have been opened into Iraqi television's airing of images of US prisoners of war and of instances of false surrenders by Iraqi troops.

Others were expected to follow, he said.

"Particularly when we are discussing the abuses of the past, as well as the current abuses, we need to take a look at the leadership," said Prosper.

"We have put over the years sharp focus on the actions of Saddam Hussein, his sons, individuals such as 'Chemical Ali' because by the nature of the regime we understand that many of the orders for the atrocities came from the top," Prosper said.

"Chemical Ali" is Ali Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam who allegedly carried out a gas attack on Kurdish villagers in 1988. Unconfirmed reports said he was killed Saturday in Basra.

Prosper said the United States was working with Iraqi jurists in exile to devise an "Iraqi-led process" for trying members of the regime for past abuses, he said.

"We believe that it must have some indigenous roots to reinstate the rule of law," Prosper said.

Parks said the United States has the option of trying war crimes cases with military court martials, military commissions or in US federal district court.

Other interested governments also may be interested in prosecuting Iraqis responsible for abuses against their nationals, he said.

Kuwait in particular may have an interest in Iraqis involved in abuses committed during Iraq's 1990-91 invasion and occupation of Kuwait, he said.

"Our focus right now is on winning the war," Parks said. "We're basically in what I would call step one, trying to put together, collect the information and then have the national leadership make those types of decisions, no doubt with some coordination with some of our coalition partners."

The US trials also could include Iraqi violations of the rules of war in the 1991 Gulf War, the officials said, noting that a war crimes investigation was conducted immediately after the war but never acted on.

US laws of war have their origins in a code drawn up in 1863 during the US Civil War that looked at the practice of warfare through history.

It now includes the 1907 Hague Convention for the conduct of military operations on land, and the four 1949 Geneva Conventions.

The Geneva Conventions deal with the treatment of military wounded and sick, prisoners of war and civilians.

"The Iraqi regime has displayed a pattern of systematic disregard for the law of war," said Parks.

He cited the airing by Iraqi TV and Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arabic television news network, of a videotape of dead US soldiers as well of interviews of others who were captured.

"Suffice it to say that the tape made at the direction of the Iraqi regime shows fundamental violations of Geneva Convention obligations," he said.

Another area under investigation are instances in which Iraqi forces carrying white flags signaling an intention to surrender attacked US forces.

"Behind the tapes and additional reports from the field there are likely to be additional violations," he said.

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