Saddam may be offered immunity

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday threw open the prospect that Saddam Hussein could be granted immunity from war crimes prosecution if he left Iraq voluntarily and went into exile.

Mr Rumsfeld, one of the most “hawkish” members of the US administration who has been assumed to be leading demands for military intervention, insisted that he would prefer to see a peaceful resolution to the current crisis.

In an interview with ABC Television, Mr Rumsfeld said that the question of legal immunity from prosecution would be a matter for the US Justice Department.