Officials Support Exile for Hussein Deal Could Allow Iraqi President To Avoid Charges
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 20, 2003; Page A01
NEW YORK, Jan. 19 -- Three top Bush administration officials said today they would welcome exile for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and one, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, signaled the United States might allow Hussein to escape war crimes prosecution if he voluntarily steps down.
The remarks came as the administration increasingly faces resistance from other members of the U.N. Security Council for a quick decision on military action. Previously, officials said they could not presume to speak for the Iraqi people or other nations that might want to charge Hussein for killing thousands of Iraqis since he seized power in 1979. Today's comments appeared to be a signal to Hussein that a bargain might be in the offing.
"To avoid a war, I would personally recommend that some provision be made so that the senior leadership in that country and their families could be provided haven in some other country," Rumsfeld said on ABC's "This Week." "I think that that would be a fair trade to avoid a war."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who also made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows, appeared as well to support the idea of granting Hussein and his closest associates some form of asylum. In the past week, a group of Arab nations has begun to organize an effort to persuade Hussein to resign.
Hussein, through his spokesmen, has repeatedly denied any interest in avoiding a fight. He would likely try to win detailed assurances on his safety before leaving, in order to avoid the fate of Yugoslavia's former leader, Slobodan Milosevic, now in the dock in The Hague.
Rumsfeld said it would be up to the White House or Justice Department whether Hussein could avoid prosecution.
Full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15542-2003Jan19.html
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