New York: A defiant Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has rejected the suggestion that
he go into exile, asserting that he would rather die in his country than take asylum
elsewhere.
"We will die in this country and we will maintain our honour – the honour that is
required in front of our people. I believe that whoever offers Saddam asylum in his
own country is in fact a person without morals," the Iraqi leader said in an
interview to CBS television – the first to an American media organisation in a
decade.
Asked whether he would consider going into exile to save Iraqis, Saddam said he was
born in Iraq and would not forsake it. "Whoever decides to forsake his nation from
whoever requests is not true to the principles. We will die here."
Saddam also denied his links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network and
indicated that he would not set afire Iraqi oil fields or destroy dams in the event
of a US led invasion.
"Iraq does not burn its wealth and it does not destroy its dams. We hope however,
that this question is not meant as an insinuation, so that the Iraqi dams and oil
wells will be destroyed by those who will invade Iraq," he said.
He in fact called for an open debate with the US President George Bush to discuss
the necessity of war – a demand that was outrightly rejected by the White House.
In specific comments on destruction of al-Samoud 2 missiles as directed by the UN
Inspectors, who say they exceed the prescribed range of 150 kms, Saddam said he did
not possess any weapons above the proscribed range.
Iraq, he said, is allowed to manufacture land-to-land rockets as per the resolution,
up to 150 km. "We have no missiles outside the specifications of the United Nations."
He further said the massive American military build up is meant just to cover up
the "big lie" that Baghdad has weapons of mass destruction.
The Americans and the world know that Iraq does not have weapons of mass
destruction – nuclear, biological or chemical – and long range missiles, he said.
PTI
