What's been talked about before was Saddam's resignation and exile. This talk of a coup is new -- and for a coup, exile is usually not an option.
Saudi Arabia would back overthrow led by Iraqis
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia would support a U.S.-assisted overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as long as it is led by the Iraqi people, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Sunday.
In an interview one day after Vice President Cheney met with Saudi officials, Saud indicated that a coup against Saddam is preferable to a reprise of the Gulf War in 1991. He said another massive ground invasion could fail and cause more suffering to the Iraqi people.
"Regime change in Iraq will only happen if the Iraqi people do it," Saud said. Asked whether he favors assistance from U.S. intelligence agencies, which have reactivated plans to oust Saddam, he replied, "What internal change has ever been done without assistance from the outside?"
Saud is the highest level Saudi official to publicly endorsed President Bush's call for Saddam's ouster. His comments differ from those of other Arab leaders, who have argued publicly during Cheney's visit to the region that the United States should not launch a new front in the war on terrorism against Iraq.
Bush has accused Saddam of seeking to develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. U.S. officials plan to meet in Europe this spring with former Iraqi officers who have defected from Saddam's military forces and might be willing to lead a coup against him.