They are accused of running a system of kickbacks for the export of police equipment by the interior ministry-run company Sofremi between 1993 and 1995, during Pasqua's tenure as minister.

Pasqua's son Pierre-Philippe, the French businessman Pierre Falcone and the Lebanese businessmen Iskandar and Akram Safa are all targeted by international arrest warrants over the case, in which Pasqua is also a suspect.

Unless detained before the start of the trial -- the date of which has not been set -- they will be tried in absentia.

Also set to stand trial are Pasqua's former diplomatic advisor Bernard Guillet, the former Sofremi executives Bernard Dubois, Bernard Poussier and Nicolas Maroslavac and the former French prefect Jean-Charles Marchiani.

Pasqua's own role in the case is being investigated separately by the French authority responsible for probing offences committed by serving ministers.

The former minister was placed under investigation -- one step short of indictment -- earlier this year for influence peddling as part of a probe into the United Nations' scandal-tainted oil-for-food programme in Iraq.

French financial judge Philippe Courroye opened a probe in 2001 into multi-million-franc commissions paid for a series of Sofremi contracts, including one paid to the arms firm Brenco for a contract in Colombia.

Falcone -- Brenco's former top executive in the region and a key suspect in the case -- currently enjoys diplomatic immunity from prosecution as a permanent Angolan representative to the UN cultural agency UNESCO.

The Sofremi investigation was opened on the sidelines of a probe into arms sales to Angola in which both Falcone and Pasqua are implicated.

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