Hussein negotiating exile for himself ?

[sarettah]

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/news/co...-name_page.html

DESPERATE SADDAM OFFERS AMERICANS DEAL
Sep 21 2003
From Paul Martin In Baghdad

SADDAM Hussein has been in secret negotiations with US forces in Iraq for the past nine days, we can reveal.

The Iraqi dictator is demanding safe passage to the former Soviet republic of Belarus. In exchange, he has vowed to provide information on weapons of mass destruction and disclose bank accounts where he siphoned off tens of millions of dollars in plundered cash.

President Bush is being kept abreast of the extraordinary talks by his National Security advisor Condoleezza Rice. She is co-ordinating negotiations in Baghdad which are led by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of American forces in Iraq.

The United States has vowed never to negotiate with Saddam and want to take him dead or alive, but the White House hopes the clandestine talks will allow them to pinpoint the tyrant's exact location.

Saddam's English-speaking representative walked into the US HQ at Tikrit - the dictator's home town - on September 12 and asked to talk to senior officers.

He then led a group of US troops to a nearby suburb where one of Saddam's loyal security chiefs was waiting. The US officers were handed a hand-written note, purportedly from Saddam himself.

The security boss had a British-made Racal military radio set which he claimed gave him direct contact with people in the same room as the dictator. The radio is notoriously difficult to monitor.

He was immediately taken into custody, but the US has continued to exchange messages with Saddam using the radio and other means.

A senior Iraqi told The Sunday Mirror last night: "A representative of Saddam dressed in Western-style civilian clothes came to coalition people at Tikrit at sunset on September 12. He led them to a house where the security official was waiting.

"The discussions are now going on under the direct authority of General Sanchez. Naturally all the major decisions are being made at the level of the National Security Council, under Condoleezza Rice."

[Almighty Colin]

See below. ;-)



Last edited by Colin at Sep 21 2003, 10:24 AM

[Almighty Colin]

Isn't The Mirror a tabloid?

Anyway, given the chance, do you think Bush would prefer to capture Saddam or have proof of WMDs?



Last edited by Colin at Sep 21 2003, 10:24 AM

[PornoDoggy]

Short term ... Hussein. Long term ... WMD.

[sarettah]

I do believe the U.S. just told the mirror to shut up.......

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid..._dc_1&printer=1

U.S. Military Denies Report of Saddam Exile Offer
Sun Sep 21,11:57 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Sunday denied a British media report that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had offered money and information on weapons of mass destruction in return for safe passage to the ex-Soviet republic of Belarus.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper said an aide of the fugitive (news - Y! TV) ex-president had approached U.S. forces in Tikrit and led them to a house in the suburbs. There, they were given a letter, purportedly handwritten by Saddam, proposing talks.

It said negotiations had been going on for nine days covering weaponry and bank accounts containing tens of millions of dollars.

Lt. Col. William MacDonald, spokesman for the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division which controls Tikrit north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, said the story was wrong.

"The 4th Infantry Division has not had any contact with any former regime members regarding Saddam Hussein's disposition," he told Reuters.