BAGHDAD, Iraq - War crimes trials against Iraq's former Baath Party leaders will begin next week, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said today. He didn't say whether Saddam Hussein would be among them.

Many members of Iraq's former regime have been in jail for more than a year, and few have been able to meet with counsel. Saddam's Jordan-based lawyers say they have not seen the former dictator, arrested a year ago Monday.

"I can now tell you clearly and precisely that, God willing, next week the trials of the symbols of the former regime will start, one by one so that justice can take its path in Iraq," Allawi told Iraq's interim National Council, without saying who would be tried.

A lawyer for former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said they were protesting the legality of their trials and their detention. Saddam's own lawyers in Jordan had issued a statement Sunday protesting the U.S. refusal to let them see him.

JERUSALEM - The armed uprising against Israel is a mistake and must end, interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview published today, signaling his determination to change direction after Yasser Arafat's death.Palestinian militants have enjoyed broad support among Palestinians during more than four years of conflict with Israel. Abbas' affirmation of a somewhat unpopular view comes at the height of his campaign for Palestinian Authority president.Abbas is the frontrunner in the Jan. 9 election to succeed Arafat as Palestinian Authority president. Abbas, a pragmatist, has the support of Israel and the international community.While Arafat was still alive, Abbas told associates in closed-door meetings that he felt the uprising was a mistake, but rarely spoke out in public.In an interview with the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat published today, Abbas said Palestinians should resist Israeli occupation without resorting to violence.It is important to "keep the uprising away from arms because the uprising is a legitimate right of the people to express their rejection of the occupation by popular and social means," Abbas said."Using the weapons was harmful and has got to stop," Abbas said, referring to shootings and bombings by Palestinian militants that have killed hundreds of Israelis since the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.Israel has said violence must end before peace talks can resume.By The Associated Press