'I urged Blair to be patient'

2004-10-11 20:32

Singapore - Malaysia's former leader claimed on Monday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had told him that ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had to be removed from power because the US-led coalition was unwilling to wait for him to die naturally.

Mahathir Mohamad, a fierce critic of the war in Iraq, said he spoke to the British leader before the US-led invasion, adding that he urged Blair to be patient and wait for Hussein, 67, to die.

"But Blair said: 'Well Saddam Hussein is too young. He's not going to die soon enough.'"

In London, a Downing Street spokesperson had no immediate comment on Mahathir's claim, though he said of Blair's alleged remark: "I don't recognise it as you describe it".

Mahathir didn't give further details about his conversation with Blair - US President George W Bush's strongest ally.

His comments came as a new AP poll showed nearly two thirds of people in Britain disapprove of how Blair's government has been handling the war on terrorism.

Threat of terrorism

The poll also revealed that three-fourths of Britons say they believe military action in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism around the world.

Mahathir, who stepped down after 22 years as Malaysia's prime minister in October last year, again sharply criticised the US-led war in Iraq.

"The state of affairs today cannot truly be said to be better than when it was not democratic," he said, adding the situation in Iraq would just turn other Arab nations away from democracy.

"There is a civil war going on," he said, referring to the US-led coalition as invaders".

"Killing men, women and children, the old and the infirm is justified. Starving and depriving them of medical treatment is justified because their death would bring about democracy," he said.

When asked about other ways to bring about political change, Mahathir said: "Assassination is one of them ... If you're patient enough, leaders die sometimes."

- AP