Saudi proposes exile for Saddam to stop war

Key US ally Saudi Arabia has officially proposed for the first time that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should go into exile …

Key US ally Saudi Arabia has officially proposed for the first time that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should go into exile as a last-ditch effort to avert war, a Saudi diplomatic source said today.

"The kingdom, and other parties, are exerting maximum effort to prevent a devastating war and they have proposed the idea of exile for Saddam and securing a safe haven for him and his family," the source said.

US President George W. Bush has said that Saddam and his two sons must leave Iraq by 1 a.m. tomorrow Irish time or face invasion by some 280,000 US and British forces massed in the Gulf.