KEY POINTS:
MADRID - Saddam Hussein was prepared to take US$1 billion ($1.36 billion) and go into exile before the Iraq war, according to a transcript of talks between United States President George W Bush and an ally, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.
During a meeting at his ranch in
Crawford, Texas, on February 22, 2003 - one month before the US-led invasion - Bush told former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar that Saddam could also be assassinated, according to the transcript published in El Pais in Spanish.
In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe declined to comment on the report.
The meeting at Bush's Texas ranch was ahead of a final diplomatic pushat the United Nations. The White House was planning to introduce a new Security Council resolution to pressure Saddam, but most council members saw it as a ploy to gain their authorisation for war.
Aznar expressed hope that war might be avoided, or at least supported by a UN majority, and Bush said that outcome would be "the best solution for us" and "would also save us US$50 billion," referring to the initial US estimate of what the Iraq war would cost.
"The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he's indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he's allowed to take $1 billion and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction," Bush was quoted as saying.
Asked by Aznar whether Saddam could really leave, Bush replied: "Yes, that possibility exists. Or he might even be assassinated."
Bush said there would be "no guarantee" for Saddam. "He's a thief, a terrorist and a war criminal. Compared to Saddam, [former Yugoslav president Slobodan] Milosevic would be a Mother Teresa."
A spokesman for Aznar's private foundation had no comment on the transcript or its authenticity.
El Pais, which was critical of the Iraq war and of Aznar's government, did not say how it obtained the transcript, which it said was made by Spain's ambassador to the United States, Javier Ruperez.
In it, Bush said of the UN negotiations: "It's like Chinese water torture. We've got to put an end to it."
Aznar stressed the importance of UN authorisation, saying "it was not the same" to act without it.
He asked that Bush show "a little more patience".
Bush spoke openly about pressuring countries who were members of the United Nations Security Council at the time to support a resolution authorising force, but said that, whatever happened: "We'll be in Baghdad by the end of March."
"[Former Chilean President Ricardo] Lagos should know that the Free Trade Agreement with Chile still has to be approved by the Senate, and that a negative attitude on this could endanger its approval," he said, adding that aid to Angola also depended on UN support.
"And [Russian President Vladimir] Putin should know that his attitude is endangering Russia's relations with the United States," he was quoted as saying.
Bush was dismissive about former French President Jacques Chirac, who he said "thinks he's Mr Arab" and described the US as playing a game of "good cop, bad cop" with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"I don't mind being the bad cop if Blair is the good cop," Bush said.
The US President referred optimistically to the reconstruction of Iraq which he thought "could be organised into a federation."
In case the war endangered energy supplies, "the Saudis would help us and put all the oil necessary into the market," said Bush, who considered Europeans to be complacent about Saddam.
"Maybe it's because he's dark-skinned, far away and Muslim, lots of Europeans think everything's okay with him," he said.
"Saddam Hussein won't change and he'll keep on playing games. The time has come to get rid of him. That's the way it is," Bush said.
In March 2003, days before the war, the United Arab Emirates proposed to a summit of Arab leaders that Saddam and his top aides should step down and go into exile. It was the first time an Arab state had made an official call of this kind.
In a communique issued after the summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Arab leaders said they opposed any attack on Iraq and made no reference to the UAE's proposal.
The Washington Post reported that a senior administration official knowledgeable about the meeting said he doubted the US$1 billion claim, an offer reportedly transmitted through Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but said he could not be sure. He said the general account of the meeting sounded plausible but did not offer details.
In the transcript Aznar says: "The only thing that worries me is your optimism."
"I'm optimistic because I believe I'm right," Bush replied. "I'm at peace with myself."
WHAT BUSH SAID
* "Compared to Saddam, Milosevic would be a Mother Teresa."
* "[UN negotiations are] like Chinese water torture. We've got to put an end to it."
* "I don't mind being the bad cop if Blair is the good cop."
* "The time has come to get rid of [Saddam]. That's the way it is."
- Reuters
