At noon this Sunday, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared a general amnesty, releasing nearly every prisoner in the country. "It is the act of a father forgiving his children," one prison official said. Very few details are available, even days later. It was widely reported that the amnesty was not discharged in an orderly fashion. Crowds rushed into the prisons, and at the Abu Ghraib prison, many inmates were crushed or suffocated in the chaos.

The New York Times is reporting that the compromise resolution being worked over by the US and France is all but doomed. After a month of negotiations, neither side has given any ground and both are equally convinced that they can get a majority vote in the Security Council. As a result, the White House rhetoric has veered towards openly advocating assassination and revolution in Iraq.

Iraq presented a letter to the UN today, agreeing to admit inspectors on 19 October. The letter failed, however, to respond directly to a letter from UNMOVIC head Hans Blix, which requested confirmation of the conclusions from the earlier meetings in Vienna. Iraq says it endorsed the joint press conference that followed the meetings, and Blix's briefing notes two days after that. All other questions are being dealt with in good faith, says Iraqi UN ambassador Mohammed Aldouri. "We are not surprised that the Iraqis are once again attempting to delay and deceive," says the US ambassador's spokesman. The UN will begin open debate on the Iraq issue on Wednesday, at the behest of South Africa, which leads the 131-nation majority "Non-Aligned Movement."