Saddam is stiffing the world, says Bush

US PRESIDENT George W. Bush warned yesterday that Saddam Hussein is “stiffing the world” and he invited British Prime Minister Tony Blair to his Camp David retreat for weekend talks on the growing Iraq crisis.

In Washington, Bush opened what he said would be a series of consultations with politicians and US allies, including a speech to the UN next week that he said would build on his case against Saddam.

“Today, the process starts,” Bush said. “At the appropriate time, the administration will go to the Congress and seek approval for the necessary (steps) to deal with the threat.”

Though he billed next week’s UN speech as an important outline of his intentions, Bush would not say whether he would issue Iraq an ultimatum nor whether he would demand weapons inspectors be admitted to the Mideast nation.

“This issue is not inspectors. The issue is disarmament,” Bush said. “This is a man who said he would not arm up. He told the world he would not harbour weapons of mass destruction.”

Bush added that the primary issue is Saddam’s access to weapons of mass destruction.

“I’ll be discussing ways to make sure that is not the case. For 11 long years, Saddam Hussein has sidestepped, crawfished, wheedled out of any agreements he had made not to develop weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said.

“So I’m going to call upon the world to recognise that he is stiffing the world.

“And I will lay out and I will talk about ways to make sure he follows up on his agreements.”

The president’s meeting with top Democratic and Republican lawmakers comes amid increasing signals that Bush is ready to go public with a fuller picture of what the US knows about Saddam’s weapons capabilities.

Bush aimed his remarks at reluctant US allies as well as lawmakers.

“The world must understand its credibility is at stake,” he said.