Saddam pardons Kamel defectors to Jordan

THE Iraqi President, Mr Saddam Hussein, has pardoned two senior defectors who fled to Jordan last August but returned to Iraq yesterday, a spokesman for the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council said.

The spokesman said Lieutenant General Hussein Kamel Hassan, the former Iraqi minister of military industry, who fled with his brother, Col Saddam Kamel, and their two wives daughters of the Iraqi president had been forgiven and would be treated as an ordinary citizen.

Lieut Gen Kamel wrote to Mr Saddam on February 17th, asking the president to allow him to return to Baghdad.

The spokesman said that in lint with the Iraqi leadership's principle of pardoning those who had fled but sought pardon, Gen Hussein Kamel's request was accepted.

There had been their return to Baghdad for several weeks while go betweens negotiated with President Saddam on their behalf. Nothing seemed definite until Monday when the president's elder son, Udy, whose brutal antics were a major cause of the Kamels' flight made it clear the matter had been settled.

At the time of the defection they were branded "traitors" for calling for the overthrow of Mr Saddam and providing US intelligence with information on clandestine Iraqi arms programmes which violated the terms of UN resolutions. This information was later used by Washington to block French and Russian moves in the Security Council to case co sanctions against Iraq.

As a result, last week Baghdad entered into discussions with UN officials on the possibility of accepting limited oil sales to fund purchase of, urgently needed food and medicines. Iraq had previously rejected such sales an a violation of its sovereignty.

The Kamels left the security of Amman for the insecurity of Baghdad because they had been rejected by the exiled Iraqi opposition and denied asylum in the US because of close association with Mr Saddam's regime.