Malaysian ex-PM: Blair and Bush are 'evil murderers'

Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad has accused British prime minister Tony Blair and US president George Bush of being more evil and worse murderers than Saddam Hussein and the September 11 attackers.

In some of his most blistering insults against the British and US leaders, Mahathir said today their war in Iraq had caused worse terror than al-Qaida’s suicide bombers around the world.

“History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children, or as the lying prime minister and president,” said Mahathir.

As prime minister, Mahathir was vocal in his criticism of the West.

After stepping down in September 2003, he has become even more strident.

“What Blair and Bush have done is worse than what Saddam had done,” Mahathir, 72, said in a speech to inaugurate a three-day anti-war conference organised by his nongovernmental Perdana organisation.

The conference will formally launch on Wednesday a war tribunal to try world leaders, including Bush and Blair, against whom common citizens file complaints.