Atlanta: The United States' goal in any war against Iraq would be to overthrow Saddam Hussein, not necessarily to kill him, Donald H Rumsfeld, US Defence Secretary, said on September 27.

Launching a series of speeches across America to build up support for the Bush administration's case against Iraq, Rumsfeld called Saddam a brutal dictator and said Iraq would be better off without him.

However, any US invasion of Iraq would be focussed on toppling Saddam's government, not killing him, Rumsfeld said.

Agencies