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