Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=1/29/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=POWELL / IRAQ / EXILE (S)

NUMBER=2-298976

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United States would be willing to try to help facilitate the exile of Saddam Hussein and members of his family and inner circle as a way to avoid war. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

TEXT: The Bush administration had made clear in the past that it would like to see Saddam Hussein leave power, as a way to defuse the crisis over Iraq's disarmament. But Mr. Powell's remarks at a joint press appearance with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursid Mahmud Kasuri marked the first time a senior administration official had offered to assist in the process:

///POWELL ACTUALITY///

If he were to leave the country, and take some of his family members with him and others in the leading elite that have been responsible for so much trouble during the course of his regime, we would, I'm sure try to help find a place for them to go.

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Mr. Powell said exile was "certainly" a way to avoid war, though under questioning he said the United States could not itself guarantee Saddam Hussein immunity from prosecution on war crimes or other offenses and that the issue would have to be dealt with in a broader forum. (Signed)

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