950815

Iraqi defectors

want sanctuary

in US or

S Arabia: Report

LONDON: Saddam Hussein's son-in-law defected because of escalating clashes with the Iraqi leader's son and is believed to be seeking sanctuary in the United States or Saudi Arabia, according to the Sunday Times.

Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamel Al-Majid, the brains behind Iraq's clandestine weapons programme and the husband of Saddam's favourite daughter, met a senior American delegation in Amman on Saturday, the paper said.

"The meeting consisted of wary negotiations, in which the Amiercans tried to discover exactly what Hussein Kamel would reveal and the Iraqi official wanted to know what he would receive in return," it said.

Al-Majid condemned Saddam at a news conference on Saturday and announced a campaign to topple him. He said he left Iraq Monday night because he had failed to create change from inside Saddam's ruling circle.

Jordanian intelligence officers thwarted a plot by two Iraqi agents disguised as journalists to kill Al-Majid at the news conference, The Mail on Sunday reported, quoting unidentified senior Jordanian intelligence sources.

WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary William Perry promised that U.S. forces would defend Jordan if its decision to grant two top Iraqi defectors asylum prompted an attack by Baghdad, the Washington Times reported.

Perry, speaking to the paper's reporters and editors, cited unusual Iraqi military movements. He said Washington was ready to respond to any strike against Jordan with Tomahawk missiles but added there was no indication an attack was planned.-Reuter