Saddam relative 'defects'

Mr al-Majid says he is a cousin of Saddam

Reports from the Jordanian capital, Amman, say that a member of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's family arrived there several days ago, seeking asylum in an Arab country.

The man, Alaa al-Majid, said he was a cousin and a former aide to Saddam Hussein, but had left Iraq following differences with the government.

I am looking for an Arab country to give me asylum and protection because I can no longer return to Iraq

Alaa al-Majid

The French news agency AFP later reported that Mr al-Majid had agreed to a meeting with the Iraqi ambassador in Jordan, Sabah Yassin.

An official source in Jordan told the BBC that Mr al-Majid had not asked for asylum there.

He also denied that the man was a member of Saddam Hussein's family, adding he was not a political figure in Iraq.

But an Iraqi living in London, who has worked with the Iraqi leader's son Uday, confirmed the man's identity to the BBC.

Climate of fear

There have been numerous defections by Iraqi officials since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

Hussein Kamel was killed after returning to Baghdad

The main cause is the profound climate of fear in Iraq and the continually shifting allegiances within the ruling elite.

The most prominent defector in recent years was General Hussein Kamel, chief of Iraq's secret weapons procurement programme, who left in August 1995 and divulged military secrets to Western intelligence.

He later returned but was killed shortly afterwards in an army mortar attack on his home.

Mr Majid is believed to be related to General Kamel.