The United States and some of its Arab allies have started a quiet effort to defuse the Iraqi crisis by persuading President Saddam Hussein to go into exile.
Thursday's edition of the USA Today daily cited three unnamed Arab diplomats, who confirmed an initial overture came in August, when Qatar's foreign minister suggested to Saddam that he consider stepping down to avoid a devastating war with the United States.
Saddam angrily told the Qatari diplomat to leave. This offer was part of a strategy to see whether Saddam would agree to go into exile.
The daily said US officials made clear earlier this week that they could accept such an outcome as an alternative to war. A senior State Department official told the USA Today that although continued freedom for Saddam was contrary to official US policy, "it's a scenario we have to come to terms with."
In a related development, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Thursday for a political solution to the Iraqi crisis through existing U.N. resolutions.
"We favour a rapid resolution of the situation around (Iraq) on the basis of existing U.N. Security Council resolutions, and in accordance with the principles and norms of international law," he said in a Kremlin ceremony.
Resumption of U.N. inspections for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons for the first time since 1998 would "answer the concerns of the international community", Putin told the new Iraqi ambassador after receiving his credentials. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
