Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday accused the United States of pushing to oust his father in order to get its hands on the country's oil. He added Washington was acting like "an arrogant cowboy."
"Do not imagine that they (Americans) will leave you alone because you are sitting on the (world's) number one oil reserve," Uday was quoted as saying on Thursday night by al-Shabab (youth) television which he owns.
"Our oil reserve exceeds that of Saudi Arabia by 25 percent and we are the world's number one (in oil reserves), but they do not speak about that so that it won't be said that the war is for oil," Uday conveyed. "The last barrel of oil on earth will be, God willing, an Iraqi oil barrel. So they will not leave you alone."
Additionally, Uday accused the United States of separating the north from the rest of the country because of the mineral reserves there. "Keep in mind that they had separated the north in this damned way because there is uranium and iron there, not to speak of sulphur and other materials," he added.
Uday said Baghdad was ready to talk with Washington if it respected Iraq's sovereignty. "If they (Americans) want to sit and talk after ensuring our full rights with respect to sovereignty and not in this reckless way, the way of the arrogant cowboy, we are ready, but if they raised their voice we would escalate our action," Uday said.
He added that Iraq was capable of repelling any U.S. attack. "Let them come...At the end, God willing, disgrace will be theirs," Uday said.
Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush said stressed that disarming and ousting the Iraqi leader was a "uniquely American issue."
"Other countries of course, bear the same risk. But there's no doubt his hatred is mainly directed at us," Bush said at a political fundraiser on Friday. "After all, this is the guy who tried to kill my dad."
In his speech, Bush said Washington would act alone if the the world body failed to take strong action to strip Saddam of any nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons.
"If the United Nations won't act, if he doesn't disarm, the United States will lead a coalition to make sure he does," the president said here. "It's an American issue, a uniquely American issue."
"I say uniquely American issue because I truly believe that now that the war has changed, now that we are a battlefield this man poses a much greater threat that anybody could possibly imagine," he said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
