Khamenei "pleased" over Saddam arrest; says Bush, Sharon must go

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2003

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran's supreme leader said that all Iranians were "pleased" at the arrest of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but said US President George W. Bush and Israel's Ariel Sharon should also go.

"The Iranian nation is very pleased with his arrest," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday in a speech in the city of Qazvin which was carried live on state television.

He described the ousted Iraqi leader as a "wild animal", a "corrupt being" and a "bloodthirsty wolf", sparking the habitual chants from the crowd of "Death to Saddam", "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

But the all-powerful leader also accused Saddam's captors of hypocrisy, noting their support of Iraq during its 1980-88 war against the Islamic republic that cost the lives of...