The United Arab Emirates proposed today that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his top aides should go into exile as Arab leaders held crisis talks in Egypt in a bid to avert war.
It was the first time an Arab state had officially called on Iraq's leadership to step down and leave Iraq, a solution that Washington has said could spare the volatile region another war.
Saddam has previously said he would rather die than go into exile. In the first reaction to the UAE proposal, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said it was not a fully fledged initiative, but an idea that would be discussed comprehensively. "We are sure that the United Arab Emirates under the leadership of (President) Sheikh Zaid (bin Sultan al-Nahayan) will not issue anything that is not in the Arab interest," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Arab summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
There was no other immediate reaction to the proposal from Arab states attending the summit, which is aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the crisis over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies it has such arms.
The UAE proposal suggested offering the Iraqi leadership "all suitable privileges to leave (Iraq) within two weeks after accepting the Arab initiative". It said Iraq's leaders should get internationally binding guarantees that they would not be prosecuted "in any form", and called for a general amnesty for all Iraqis at home and abroad. It said the Arab League, in cooperation with the UN, should supervise the situation in Iraq for a transitional period.
It is not clear whether Arab leaders would make any public statements on the UAE proposal. While many Arabs would be glad to see the back of Saddam, calling on a fellow leader to resign and accept exile is a highly controversial move.
Some Arabs fear it could set a dangerous precedent in a region where leaders have few democratic credentials. Arab leaders are also keen to show their policies are not dictated by foreign powers such as Washington, which some Arabs believe considers "regime change" in Iraq only the first step towards a wider regional shake-up.
At the same time, analysts note that Arab states might call for Saddam's exile knowing full well he will probably reject the idea, arguing that Arabs could thereby show their citizens they had considered all options to avert a war.
Arab public opinion is firmly opposed to war against Iraq, and Middle East leaders are fully aware of potential instability at home if rising numbers of local protests get out of control. In Yemen on Saturday, more than 300,000 people took to the streets to urge Arab leaders to deny Washington any help in a war against Iraq.