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JERUSALEM: US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld paid a secret visit to former
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and offered him freedom and possible return to
public life if he made a televised request to armed groups for a ceasefire with
allied forces, a media report said.
Saddam promptly rejected the offer, Ynetnews reported quoting a London based
Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily.
The visit came during Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq about two weeks ago and was
known only to a few Iraqi officials in Jordan, the Arab daily reported quoting
sources.
Some two weeks ago the British Telegraph had reported that Iraqi gunmen were
offered a "deal" to halt all terror attacks in return for a reduced
sentence for Saddam, likely to be sentenced to death.
However, an Iraqi government official is said to believe that Saddam's Baath
party will request to return to politics, the report said.
