"With respect to exile, if he (President Saddam) were to leave the country and take some of his family members with him and others in the leading elite who have been responsible for so much trouble during the course of his regime, we would, I'm sure, try to help find a place for them to go," Powell said at a joint press conference with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri.

"That certainly would be one way to avoid war, and we've indicated this before," the Powell added.

US officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, had indicated in the past that the United States favors the exile of President Saddam but they ruled out any US involvement in such an arrangement.

Powell's remarks, therefore, were significant because it was the first time a high-ranking US official has said publicly that the United States will be ready to help make such an arrangement.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2003)