A US television network has landed an interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
CBS announced that its news anchor Dan Rather was granted a two-hour interview with Hussein which will be broadcast in its entirety on Wednesday.
According to the CBS website, the interview includes a challenge from Hussein to US President George W Bush for an internationally televised live debate about the looming war in Iraq.
The Iraqi leader says he envisions such a discussion as being along the lines of US presidential campaign debates.
He also indicates that he does not intend to follow United Nations' orders to destroy his Al-Samoud 2 missiles.
Hussein denies that those missiles are in violation of UN mandates and says he does not intend to destroy them or pledge to destroy them as demanded by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix.
Responding to Hussein's debate proposal, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told CBS News that it is "not a serious statement".
Fleischer said: "This is not about a debate. This is about disarmament and complying with the world's instructions that Iraq disarm."
And he added that Hussein's comments about the Al Samoud weapons represented "open defiance" of the United Nations.
