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| Axis of Evil |
| Sammy arranges some soft landings with Muammar... |
| 2002-11-16 |
| Saddam Hussein has made secret plans for his family and leading members of his regime to be given political asylum in Libya in the event of a war with America or a successful internal coup in Baghdad. The extraordinary steps taken by the Iraqi leader to provide an exit strategy for key relatives and associates, which includes paying $3.5 billion into Libyan banks, provide the first evidence that Saddam is now facing up to the prospect of being toppled from power. But The Even as he makes Likely we'd tromp right in and get them. Muammar wouldn't like that... Word of Saddamâs deal with the Libyan leader has emerged from diplomatic sources in Tripoli following a visit to the Libyan capital on September 8 by General Ali Hasan al-Majid, a cousin and trusted member of Saddamâs clan. General al-Majid is known by the Kurds of northern Iraq as âChemical Aliâ because he was in charge of the Iraqi forces which launched a chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988. He was also initially the âGovernorâ of Kuwait after Iraqâs invasion of the Gulf state in August 1990, and is now one of the Baath Party regional command leaders. He is believed to have travelled to Tripoli to deliver a personal missive from Saddam to the Libyan leader, confirming the arrangements for his family. Wonder if Chemical Ali made some arrangements for himself, too? The sources said that in return for the $3.5 billion deposited in Libyan bank accounts, Colonel Gaddafi has agreed to give sanctuary to members of Saddamâs family and to about a dozen senior officials of the Baghdad regime, with their families. Three and a half billion! Cheeze! For a piece of that, I might be able to take a couple of them in, too. I've got a spare room... Anybody remember the Saturday Night Live routine, where the suburban couple took in Idi Amin? "Idi, you've got to stop interrogating prisoners in the basement... And you've got to clean up after you butcher an antelope in the kitchen..." The sources said they believed the regime members would include Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Naji Sabri, the Foreign Minister, and Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. The other officials were believed to be less well known members of the ruling Baath Partyâs regional command. "Izzat Ibrahim?" "No, I don't think that's him..." In a separate arrangement, said to have been agreed in October during a visit by senior Iraqi officials to Damascus, an overland escape route was devised. It would involve Saddamâs family members and regime leaders travelling from Tikrit, home of the Saddam clan, to the Syrian border via the Badiyat al-Sham desert which divides Syria from Iraq. It is not clear whether the sanctuary deal includes Qusay Hussein, the Iraqi leaderâs second â and favourite â son. Prob'ly not. Qusay should be toast, too... However, the diplomatic sources said that if Saddam felt his regime was about to collapse, he would do his utmost to see that his family escaped, especially Qusay, as well as Ali, his youngest son, and his grandchildren. Ali's the dumb one, who stays out of trouble and brings Pop his paper at night... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 Libya is indeed known for its ironclad honesty in international relations. Snort. Seriously, though, Qusay might get away in any case - he's the smart one, and likely has his exit strategy already planned out. Uday, on the other hand, is fertilizer the momeny the troops roll in - he's too well-known as a brutal thug. |
| Posted by: Tripartite 2002-11-16 15:28:49 |
| #2 Libya says it ain't so: TUNIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Libya on Saturday said a British newspaper story saying Iraqi President Saddam Hussein offered Tripoli money to shelter his family and aides was fictitious.Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna Chaouch said his government reserved the right to sue Britain's Times newspaper for the story which said Saddam offered Libya $3.5 billion to provide a safe-haven for his family and top Iraqi officials. "These reports were totally unfounded and were simply fictitious and fabricated," Chaouch said in a statement carried by the official Libyan news agency Jana. |
| Posted by: Steve 2002-11-16 15:24:39 |
| #1 3.5 billion? Think of how many millions of starving Iraqi children you could feed with that kind of swag! |
| Posted by: Raj 2002-11-16 15:01:20 |