France Said to Be Working on Saddam Exile Deal

http://www.kfab.com

[tuna_battle_slight_return]

France will do ANYTHING to keep Saddam alive. Amazing...

France Said to Be Working on Saddam Exile Deal

American officials have told ABCNEWS that even with today's bombing, secret talks have continued behind the scenes about a Saddam Hussein surrender and exile to, among other places, the country of Mauritania in west Africa.

Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted at the possibility of ongoing talks, saying: "There are a number of channels open to Baghdad. There are a number of individuals in countries around the world who have been conveying the message to the Iraqi regime that it is now inevitable that there will be a change."

One of the back channels goes through France, according to American officials aware of the negotiations.

Proposed Haven in Mauritania?

Since December, ABCNEWS has learned, an emissary from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in the middle of the secret offer of exile. American officials say the French go-between, Pierre Delval, an expert on foreign currencies, has repeatedly traveled to Baghdad to persuade Saddam to accept exile in Mauritania.

A former French colony, Mauritania is an Islamic republic said to have warm ties with Iraq.

Officials in Mauritania said they knew nothing of any exile offer to Saddam Hussein or his sons.

Despite the outward signs of defiance in the TV pictures of Saddam broadcast today, officials say the offer of exile remains very much in play.

U.S. officials say details of the exile were being negotiated through lawyers in Jordan who work for Saddam's son Qusai, also seen in the tape released today.

Officials in Washington are looking closely at that tape of Saddam and his son for clues. Was it actually taped today, indicating Saddam Hussein is alive? And does the absence of his son Odai serve to confirm reports that Odai was killed in the bombings Wednesday night?

In addition to the tape, American officials are calling on every resource at their disposal, satellite photos, electronic intercepts, and human spies from other countries, equipped with miniature communications gadgets to send reports back to Washington.

[goldstategop]

He'll never take it. There's no market for ex-dictators in the Arab world. Saddam could never live down the loss of face always so important to the Oriental mind. Nope he's a power trip junkie. Its either staying where he is or death.

[Semper Paratus]

The Mauritania exile story won't die. Is this being puffed by the French media?

[Thane_Banquo]

I love the irony of the French schooling Saddam on how to surrender.

[M Kehoe]

You can't go into exile if you're dead. Right?

5.56mm

[conservaDave]

Saddam's Exile to France: 1 part to Paris...1 part to the Bordeaux Region....1 part to Marseille... 1 part to Alsace

[SolutionsOnly]

Yeah, didn't didn't they also harbor Allahtoya Khomeini before the shah of Iran was overthrown too?

The French are not to be trusted.

[conservativecorner]

Couldn't of said it better myself!!

[Pietro]

"..the French schooling Saddam on how to surrender."

LOL. Well, after all they wrote the book.

[Saundra Duffy]

BOMB FRANCE!!

[VoteHarryBrowne2000]

We have to kill Saddam. If we allow the French to find a sanctuary for this guy we will be having headaches for a long time to come.

Remember where Ayatollah Khomeini was before the Shaw of Iran was overthrown? Ayatollah Khomeini was in Paris. The French are not our allies. They are "all lies."

The dolts at the State Department should be sacked.

[GATOR NAVY]

I would think the French would want him dead. Alive, he's a source of French-Iraqi cooperation.

[laz17]

Can we make Chiraq go into exile? Otherwise:

REGIME CHANGE IN FRANCE!

[#3Fan]

Too late. Exile time ended at 8:00 Eastern time on Wednesday night.

[FreedomPoster]

I think it's time for a U.S. victory march under the Arc de Triomph. After relocating it to, say, Texas. Right outside the main gates at Fort Hood.

[FITZ]

If he's alive, maybe he'd consider it ---I think he'd be happy to see how easy the French are to put into submission. He wouldn't even have to torture them.

[Tom Bombadil]

Ayahtola Hussein.

[anniegetyourgun]

Welcome to FR.....but he's dead.

[Taft in '52]

"Smoke On the Water," a song popularized by Bob Wills, Boyd Heath, and others in 1945 contained the following verse:

Hirohito, along with Hitler, will be riding on a rail.
Mussolini will beg for mercy when his Blackshirt army fails.
But there'll be no time for pity when the screaming eagle flies.
That will be the end of Axis. They must answer with their lives.

The same ought to hold true for Saddam Hussein and all of the other members of today's Axis of Evil.

[Clara Lou]

BOMB FRANCE!!
Now, now... that would be a waste of good ordinance. The Frenchies aren't worth one of our JDAMS, Tomohawks, Bunker Busters, etc. They're an annoyance, sort of like ants-- just let them crawl.