Where Do Dictators Go? Top Retirement Destinations for the Recently Deposed

Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak insists he will end his days in his homeland, but that hasn't stopped rampant speculation about where he might end up in exile.

Among the more bizarre rumors is a report, first aired on Al-Jazeera, that the Egyptian leader might spend his retirement years in Tel Aviv -- an unlikely prospect, even for the head of a country that recognizes the Jewish state.

Saudi Arabia, given its continuing support for Mubarak, might be a likely prospect, but there's no guarantee he will go there even if he does leave Egypt. After all, exile isn't quite what it used to be, thanks to aggressive human rights organizations and new laws that help governments prosecute former dictators and reclaim ill-gotten riches.

Exiled president of Uganda Idi Amin is seen in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 1981.

Aly Mahmoud, AP

Exiled Ugandan President Idi Amin, seen here in 1981, lived his final days in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

"[Mubarak] may find a welcome in Saudi Arabia or under the roof of an equally unstable dictator in the region," Scott Horton, an attorney who has advised governments on such matters, writes in Foreign Policy. "But his troubles are not likely to end when the wheels go up on his jet from Cairo."

That said, exile is still a popular option for many former strongmen, who believe it to be a better option than facing retribution at the hands of the populace at home. Here are some of the top destinations that deposed leaders choose for retirement:

Saudi Arabia: The oil-rich kingdom has provided safe haven for one-time dictators. Ugandan President Idi Amin lived out his final days in Jeddah. More recently, Saudi Arabia welcomed Tunisia's deposed leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who is also in Jeddah.

France: Paris has proved a popular retirement town for political exile, but in recent years its most famous ex-dictator in residence has been Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who settled there in the mid-1980s after leaving Haiti amid a popular uprising. Duvalier recently made headlines when he returned to Haiti, only to be arrested -- proving that dictators in exile should probably stay put.

Panama: Panama briefly welcomed Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi before he moved on to Egypt. It also offered refuge to Raoul Cedras, Haiti's former military ruler, who left for Panama with help from the United States.

United States: Ferdinand Marcos, the former president of the Philippines, ended up in Hawaii after being given safe haven there by the Reagan administration. The shah also made an extended pit stop in the United States for medical care.

Morocco: When Mobuto Seso Seko was forced to leave Congo (then known as Zaire) after a brutal rule that lasted more than three decades, he ended up in Morocco (by way of Togo). He died in Rabat in 1997. Iran's shah also settled in Morocco, among his many other stops in exile.

The deposed shah ended up dying in Egypt in July 1980. He is buried in a Cairo mosque.