Since the end of the U. S.-led war in April that ousted Saddam, the two had been in hiding with their mother Sajida under close tribal protection, Iraqi exile sources in Amman said.

Information Minister Nabil al-Sharif said that the King issued an order admitting Raghd, 36, and Rana, 34, on their arrival from Baghdad.

"They are his majesty’s guests for purely humanitarian reasons," Sharif said, adding that they were accompanied by their nine children.

"I have no knowledge whether they are heading for any other destination," Sharif said. Their late husbands were Lieutenant General Hussein Kamel, who headed Iraq’s nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programmes for 10 years, and his brother Saddam Kamel.

The two men defected to Jordan in 1995 and announced plans to work to overthrow Saddam, but later decided to return to Baghdad in 1996. They were accused by Saddam’s government of giving information about Iraq’s weapons to the West and were killed.

A Jordanian cabinet minister, who requested anonymity, said the daughters would be free to stay in Amman or leave to go to any country of their choice.

A palace official said the asylum offer by the pro-Western monarch was a traditional gesture of Arab hospitality.

Iraqi exile sources said Raghd and Rana had sought refuge without success in Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Some relatives of leaders of Iraq’s former ruling Baath party have found refuge in Amman, including the family of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, officials say privately.