Leading neutrons from polarized pp collisions

We calculate the cross section and single-spin azimuthal asymmetry, An(t) for inclusive neutron production in pp collisions at forward rapidities relative to the polarized proton. Absorptive corrections to the pion pole generate a relative phase between the spin-flip and non-flip amplitudes, which leads to an appreciable spin asymmetry. However, the asymmetry observed recently in the PHENIX experiment at RHIC at very small |t|~0.01 GeV2 cannot be explained by this mechanism.