Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan told Saudi Arabia's foreign minister to "go to hell" on Tuesday after he reiterated a call for President Saddam Hussein to step down.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal earlier on Monday told ABC News Saddam should be "the first to sacrifice for his country" by stepping aside to end the war in Iraq.
At a news conference, Ramadan issued a blistering response saying: "You loser, you are too small to talk to the leader of Iraq and those who will be swept away from the land of the Arab world are people like you. You are a minion and a lackey."
Ramadan accused Saudi rulers of serving U.S. interests by allowing American forces to be based on their land and raising oil production to compensate for any shortage in Iraqi output. He said they now wanted Baghdad to do Washington's bidding.
"You failure, go to hell. All we wish is that you did not have an Arab name or Arab roots," Ramadan said.
During the Baghdad briefing, Ramadan called on Arabs to rebel against their rulers for supporting the war and allowing Western troops to be based on their soil, in an apparent reference to the Gulf Arab states that host U.S. troops.
"I tell (Arab) organizations, political parties and societies that Iraq does not need medicine or food. What is required from you all is to fight these regimes that conspire and cooperate with the aggression," he said.
"What is required from the people is to combat them and the American, British and Zionist enemy presence on their land."
Ramadan said the number of Arab volunteers that have arrived in Iraq to help fight the invaders now exceeded 6,000. "More than half of them are volunteers for martyrdom and you will hear news of them," he said.
Ramadan said Iraq did not have any arms of mass destruction and rejected U.S. claims that Syria had provided Iraq with night vision goggles. He also said he did not rule the possibility that U.S. and British forces would "plant" banned weapons or substances in Iraq. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
