Moscow, Mar 18: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not plan to give into a US ultimatum and leave the country to avert war, a Russian official told Interfax news agency from Baghdad today after meeting Saddam's elder son Uday. "Neither Saddam Hussein nor his sons plan to leave Baghdad," said Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the Russian Republic of Kalmykiya. "They are ready to defend their country," he said.
Ilyumzhinov met Saddam's elder son Uday yesterday, just hours before US President George W Bush warned the Hussein family that Iraq would face war if they did not leave the country within 48 hours.

Ilyumzhinov, who is also head of the International Chess Federation, met with Uday, the head of Iraq's Olympic committee, to discuss Olympic sport, Interfax said.
Bureau Report