Deadline finally runs out for Saddam

The United States' deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to go into exile or face war has expired.

US and British forces massed in the Kuwaiti desert close to the Iraqi border, giant B-52 warplanes were loaded with bombs and Tomahawk missile-carrying ships were in position, all awaiting an attack order from Bush.

The deadline came at 1am in Baghdad, its population shrunken in recent days by an exodus of thousands of fearful residents.

It was 8pm in Washington, and Bush was at the White House, neither he nor aides giving any hint of the planned timing of the invasion.

Defiant to the end, Saddam showed no sign of accepting a public offer of exile from Bahrain, and his regime gave every appearance of digging in.