AP is reporting on an Al-Arabiya documentary that states that Saddam accepted exile weeks before the invasion and agreed to elections within six months, but the deal was scuttled by the Arab League due to rules and protocol. A bit outrageous, considering the seriousness of the neo-cons to start the war, that the Arab League would not have gone the extra mile to prevent further US presence in the region. Unless, of course, there was something in it for them.
The article does say that the US was aware of the deal. Just another piece of evidence that there was a war-only agenda in the WH. Why else would the US not let the inspectors continue their work, lie about WMDs, and now it seems, not allow time for the Arab League to follow protocol with the exile agreement.
Some exercpts:
Saddam Hussein accepted an 11th-hour offer to flee into exile weeks ahead of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, but Arab League officials scuttled the proposal, officials in this Gulf state claimed.
The exile initiative was spearheaded by the late president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at an emergency Arab summit held in Egypt in February 2003, Sheik Zayed's son said in an interview aired by Al-Arabiya TV during a documentary. The U.S.-led coalition invaded on March 19 that year.
Saddam allegedly accepted the offer to try to halt the invasion and bring elections to Iraq within six months, according to the official and Sheik Zayed's son.
The anonymous Emirates official said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa did not bring the proposal to the summit's discussion because Arab foreign ministers had not presented and accepted it as league protocol dictated.
At the time, Arab League leaders said the summit decided not to take up the idea, citing league rules barring interference in members' domestic affairs.
The documentary also included an interview from Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, who said the United States was aware of the proposal.