May 15 2004 at 09:18AM
|
Caracas, Venezuela - United States President George Bush should kneel before Pope John Paul and ask for forgiveness for abuses committed by US soldiers in Iraq, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday.
In his latest jibe against the US leader, the outspoken leftwing Venezuelan president urged Bush to use his planned visit to the Vatican on June 4 to announce the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
"Even though he's not a Catholic... he should ask God's forgiveness at the Vatican... go down on his knees in front of the Pope and ask for the forgiveness of the world, not just the Iraqi people," Chavez told a news conference in Caracas.
Continues Below ↓
While he criticized the actions of US troops, the Venezuelan leader also condemned as "a horror" the decapitation of US businessman Nick Berg by Islamic militants in Iraq.
He made the comments after noting that senior Vatican officials had criticized the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers which has caused an international scandal.
Over the last few months, Chavez has repeatedly condemned Bush for waging the war in Iraq. He called the US president a "jerk" earlier this year and accuses his administration of seeking to topple him, a charge denied by Washington.
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
©2008. All rights strictly reserved. Independent
Online is a wholly owned subsidiary of Independent News & Media. Reliance
on the information this site contains is at your own risk. |
| Please read the user
agreement and privacy
policy.
Send us feedback.
Tel: +27 21 481 6200, Fax: +27 21 481 6292 Click here for more information on IOL |