Saudi Arabia proposes exile for Saddam to stop war: U.S. ally

Saudi Arabia proposes exile for Saddam to stop war: U.S. ally Saudi Arabia has 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 on Wednesday. "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. --Reuters

Pope prays for those 'threatened by war': Pope John Paul II, with the deadline nearing for a U.S.-led attack on Iraq, prayed on Wednesday for those "threatened in these hours by war." A staunch opponent of a war on Iraq, the pope again raised his voice to implore peace as he addressed his weekly public audience in St. Peter's Square. " --AP

Britain probing rumor that top Iraqi official have defected: The British Foreign Office said on Wednesday it was investigating a rumor that Iraq's long-serving top diplomat, Tareq Aziz, may have defected and traveled to the Kurdish-held north of the country. The statement came after a Labour Party member of the British parliament reported the rumor -- said to come from a Bulgarian source -- and asked if the government had any information on it. --AFP

Armed Americans arrest al-Qaeda suspect in Somalia: Six unidentified armed Americans have apprehended a presumed Yemeni national, suspected of having links to al-Qaeda, from a hospital in Somalia's capital and flew him out of the country, witnesses said on Wednesday. On Tuesday the six men, accompanied by members of a Somali militia group, took the man from Kaysaney hospital. Staff named him only as Issa and said he was carrying a South African passport. The United States has no diplomatic representation in Somalia. --AFP