BAGHDAD, June 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will be charged by the Special Iraqi Tribunal on Thursday,a day after transferring into Iraqi legal custody, local TV al-Iraqia said.

   A government spokesman was quoted as saying, "Saddam Hussein will receive in his place of detention a letter detailing theaccusations against him.

   On Thursday, he will be taken under escort and the judge will read him the accusations before charging him."   In December, Saddam was captured by US troops at the bottom of a spider hole near his hometown of Tikrit and has since been held by the US forces.

   The US military will still guard Saddam and his 11 former aides despite their transfer into Iraqi legal custody.  

    Earlier, Salem al-Chalabi, a lawyer leading the work of a tribunal that will try Saddam, said that the former dictator will be charged with crimes against humanity for a 1988 massacre of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.  

    Former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz and Ali Hassan al-Majid,known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in using chemical weapons, are among those to be turned over to Iraqi legal custody with Saddam,an Interior Ministry official said.  Enditem