Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein appeared in an Iraqi court on Thursday to hear charges, expected to include crimes against humanity, a US military spokesperson was quoted as saying by TV channels.

An Iraqi judge was expected to read charges against Saddam and 11 other top lieutenants as they appear in court individually, according to al-Jazeera channel.

The judge ask if they want lawyers for their expected war crimes trial, the head of the Iraqi tribunal said.

Saddam was led from an armored bus escorted by two Iraqi prison guards and ushered through a door guarded by six more Iraqi policemen, according to CNN. The bus was escorted by four humvees and an ambulance.

Earlier, Salem al-Chalabi, a lawyer leading the work of a tribunal that will try Saddam, said that the former dictator will charged with crimes against humanity for a 1988 massacre of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.