Pope to broker a deal?

dasa · March 10, 2003

Mar 09 2003

Pope Brokers Deal for Saddam'sExile?

Pope John Paul II, in a dramatic gesture to prevent a war, is seeking to broker a deal for Saddam Hussein's exile

VATICAN CITY, March 9, 2003 -- Vatican officials confirmed to ITV today that Pope John Paul II, in addition to praying daily for peace in the Middle East, is trying to broker a deal to have Saddam Hussein accept exile and this avoid an Iraq-United States war.

"God willing, war may still be averted, even at this apparently late hour," one Vatican official told us. "We are still hopeful..."

According to the proposal, Saddam Hussein and his family are to be given 72 hours from Tuesday, March 11, to accept an offer of exile.

At the same time, several dozen of Iraq's top military leaders will be offered an amnesty in return for full co-operation with the United Nations, the still-secret plan proposes, according to published reports.

The proposal, brokered by the Vatican with Saudi Arabia and moderate Arab states, was evidently tabled by Pakistan during a closed-door meeting of the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council on Friday.

Marion McKeone of the Glasgow, Scotland, "Sunday Herald" reported today from the UN in New York City that the proposal, in the form of a short paragraph, could become part of a second resolution of the Security Council.

Under its terms, the UN would oversee the establishment of a post-Saddam government and the UN, not the US, would take stewardship of Iraq's oilfields.

The Iraqi generals and top ranking officers would have to co-operate fully with UN inspectors to oversee the total elimination of any weapons of mass destruction, McKeone writes.

It is impossible to say whther this proposal has any chance of being accepted.

But it is certain that Pope John Paul II has been sending his emissaries on repeated missions to all the key parties during the past six weeks, sas well as receiving key leaders at the Vatican on almost a daily basis.

His special envoy and former permanent observer at the UN, Archbishop Renato Rafaele Martino, has been discussing the proposal with all the Security Council members.

Significantly, Cardinal Pio Laghi, former Papal Nuncio to the United States, traveled to Washington last week to meet with President George Bush. He handed him a letter directly from the Pope, the contents of which have not been made public.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano met with Britain's leader, Tony Blair, at the Vatican in February.

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a leading French cardinal and long one of John Paul's most relied upon cardinals for "difficult missions," despite being 80 years old, went to Bagdad on February 9 to meet personally with Saddam Hussein -- his third trip to that country.

It is known that at that meeting Etchegaray discussed the subject of exile with Saddam.

Etchegaray later said that Saddam (who in a American CBS network interview with journalist Dan Rather in mid-February said he would "never" leave Iraq) did not rule out the idea.

Also in February, the Pope received Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, at the Vatican and, several days later, the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

American sources confirm that the US and Jordan have recently discussed the prospect of using the UN to offer a formal exile and amnesty package to Saddam and his inner circle, McKeone reported.

The US is aware that one of the attractions of an amendment that extends the exile offer to Saddam's family and military leaders is the likelihood it may trigger a coup, leading to his assassination by a member of his inner circle, she writes.

Many suspect that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, would push for a safe passage out rather than face a cataclysmic end in a Baghdad bunker. "Uday might be the first to shoot his father if he refused an amnesty," one senior Jordan official is quoted as saying.

The proposed amendment is still at a low rung on the UN procedural ladder but the non-permanent members believe it represents a last best chance to avert a war.

UN sources have also indicated that a second resolution on Tuesday with the March 17 ultimatum -- incorporating an offer of exile -- would provide an attractive compromise that would let the French to come on board without "losing face" or appearing to have capitulated to the US.

Diamonds Are Saddam's Best Friends

Meanwhile, if London's "Sunday Times" has it right, Saddam Hussein may indeed be getting ready to "hit the road" -- he's bought millions of dollars worth of diamonds, the traditional hard currency of fleeing refugees.

According to The Times, Saddam recently dispatched a "personal jeweler" to Bangkok, Thailand to pick up a small mountain of the gems, prompting, the paper reports, speculation that the Iraqi dictator may be getting ready to get out of town while the getting is good.

It was the jeweler's second visit to Bangkok, the paper reported. Three months ago, Saddam's son, Uday, had sent him to buy a $750,000 diamond ring from an American dealer, according to a Times' source.

Saddam, reputed to be worth at least $2 billion, is one of the world's richest men.

So, although Saddam told Dan Rather he would never leave Iraq, the Times suggests that the diamond purchase may signify a change of mind, adding that he might have decided to convert part of his wealth into diamonds because it is easier to hide and move around than paper currency when one is on the lam.

Prayer... and Action

These diplomatic moves come as the Pope, in his usual Sunday address in Vatican City today, restated his profound fears about the course of events.

They represent the boldest steps yet in the Vatican's many months of diplomatic efforts to avert war.

In the last six weeks, the Pope, with other Vatican officials and Roman Catholic leaders close to the Vatican, has repeatedly expressed opposition to a war in Iraq.

The Pope's chief concerns are two: (1) that Iraqi civilians not be harmed and (2) that a devastating "clash of civilizations" between the Islamic world and the West not be touched off by this looming war.

The Pope's opposition to the US eagerness to invade is consistent. The Vatican also opposed the Gulf War launched by the elder George Bush in 1991, a stance that strained relations with the US.

However, the Pope did not condemn the bombing of Afghanistan, though he did say that such military actions must be aimed solely at people with "criminal culpability" and not groups of innocent civilians.

It is of course not clear whether Saddam will in the end actually agree to such a proposal of exile. It is perhaps even doubtful.

But if Saddam agrees, it will be due largely to Pope John Paul II's persistence in seeking peace at a time when many see war as "inevitable."

John Paul's role in helping to bring down the "Iron Curtain" (which was expected by his Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, to stand for another 400 years) is well known.

For him, nothing is "inevitable."

For him, prayer, coupled with careful but persistent action, can indeed move mountains.