Iraqi leader rejects call to seek exile

By John Daniszewski and Edwin Chen
Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq — War ticked ever closer yesterday as Saddam Hussein appeared on television in a military uniform and rejected with contempt President Bush's ultimatum to relinquish power and flee Iraq by tonight.

Instead, his foreign minister suggested that Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair resign.

The United States stepped up preparations to attack. More than 200,000 U.S., British and Australian troops were arrayed around Iraq, primed to fight. They readied thousands of aircraft, bombs, guns and tens of thousands of precision-guided munitions, as the White House warned that the conflict may not be a short one.

In Washington, Bush's senior aides said the president met with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top military advisers to go over "last-minute planning."

A Pentagon official said the plans include sending special units of troops and intelligence operatives into Iraq soon after the fighting begins to fan out across the country and hunt for chemical and biological weapons.

Intelligence reports indicate that Saddam has given field-level commanders the authority to use chemical weapons on their own initiative, without further directives from Baghdad, Pentagon officials said.

They would try to find such weapons "sooner rather than later," the official said, moving quickly to suspected weapons sites, even though information about those sites was incomplete. The official likened the mission to a high-stakes scavenger hunt.

Meanwhile, police in Denmark were investigating the disappearance of a top military defector from Iraq, former Gen. Nizar Khazraji, who has aspired to a role in toppling Saddam's regime. The general's son said he feared that Iraqi spies had abducted his father.

But a well-sourced expert at a think tank in London asserted that Khazraji had gone secretly to the Persian Gulf with the help of U.S. agents to participate in a propaganda campaign to urge Iraqi military defections during an invasion.

Turkey base not ruled out

Amid preparations for war, the Pentagon confirmed that Rumsfeld met in Washington with Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and discussed ways that Turkey might assist in an attack on Iraq. A Pentagon official said about 20 ships carrying equipment and supplies could unload in Turkey if an agreement is reached.

The supplies would be for the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, which was to be a major component of an invasion into northern Iraq until the Turkish Parliament voted against allowing American forces to use Turkish bases.

In a tense Baghdad, Saddam presided over a joint meeting of the Revolutionary Command Council, Iraq's highest executive body, and the leadership of the ruling Baath Party. "The pathetic Bush was hoping ... to achieve his evil targets without a fight ... which reflects a state of isolation and defeat from which he and his pathetic allies are suffering," the joint meeting declared in a statement, broadcast on al Shabab television, owned by Saddam's son Uday.

Saddam went on television in uniform for the first time since the 1991 Persian Gulf War and told his military commanders that Bush's ultimatum was "debased and baseless" and "a sick hope ... that he can win the war without having to fight."

In a scathing, hourlong news conference, Foreign Minister Naji Sabri called Bush and Blair "warmongers," "treacherous leaders" and "war criminals."

"It is Mr. Bush who should go into exile," he said, "because Mr. Bush is endangering the whole world. It is Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair who should go away and leave their office."

Following his meeting with the Revolutionary Command Council, Saddam presided over a session with his senior commanders, including Qusay, his younger son, to review military plans and readiness.

Television and radio urged Iraqis to turn out on short notice for demonstrations organized by the Baath Party.

At the hastily called demonstrations, Iraqis promised to defend Saddam with their souls and their own blood.

"Whatever we are able, we will do," declared Haki Ismail, 20, a plumber. "We are not afraid of this war, and it does not matter if it is short or long. Hopefully, America will not dare to invade our land.

"But if they do, we will not let them in here in Baghdad."

Inspectors for the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, who had been searching for evidence of Iraqi chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, completed their departure yesterday.

Several embassies emptied, and many foreign journalists left the city.

In Washington, Bush's aides said he assumed that the Iraqi leader will not meet the 48-hour deadline imposed shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, Honolulu time, for Saddam and his sons to step down or face attack. White House speechwriters prepared a statement for Bush to deliver on national television at whatever time he sends troops into battle.

Length of war unpredictable

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer cautioned Americans not to rule out the possibility that war against Iraq could take longer than some might anticipate.

"The hope is that it would be short ... but I am not prepared to make any predictions about that. I'm not in a position where I can give you any type of certainty about it. I think people have to prepare for the fact that it may not be short.

"It's just impossible to state."

Secretary of State Colin Powell told international news service reporters that messages had been delivered by other nations urging Saddam to leave, without any result. "I've also seen some public statements from some countries that suggest he should comply and leave. He has essentially dismissed the message in whatever channel that it has gone," Powell said.

Powell rejected attempts, most noticeably by France, to have the U.N. Security Council address the crisis during a meeting scheduled for today in New York. The French foreign minister planned to attend, but Powell said he won't go.

Bush spoke by telephone with Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao, Fleischer said. With both Putin and Hu, the president emphasized cooperation on an array of common issues, despite Russian and Chinese opposition to a U.S. attack on Iraq, the White House spokesman said.

Putin and Bush, who acknowledged their disagreement over Iraq, reconfirmed Bush's scheduled visit to St. Petersburg at the end of May, Fleischer said, adding that Bush thanked Hu for China's role in trying to head off North Korea's nuclear program.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.