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To: goldsnow who wrote (3996)	12/8/1997 10:06:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116811

Zhirinovsky says Russia needs ruler like Saddam 02:01 p.m Dec 08, 1997 Eastern By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Russia's ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky said in Baghdad on Monday he wished his country was ruled by a brave, clever and peaceful leader like Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. Zhirinovsky, who met Saddam on Sunday on one of his regular trips to Iraq, said his visit aimed to show Russian support for the president against U.S. ''warmongering'' and for the scrapping of seven-year international sanctions on Baghdad. ''I have a very good impression after my meeting with President Saddam. He is a very brave, very clever man. A very good ruler of Iraq,'' Zhirinovsky told a news conference after his third meeting with his ''dear friend'' Saddam in three years. ''He has only peace plans...He would like very quiet relations, a very quiet life for neighbour countries,'' Zhirinovsky said in English. ''We need the same leader in our country. Very open, very brave, and very clever,'' he said. He said Russia should ignore sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and called for more Russian business, culture and sports delegations to visit Iraq. International airlines should resume flights to Baghdad to further break down its isolation, Zhirinovsky added. ''We consider that Russia must get out, even unilaterally, from the international sanctions imposed on Iraq,'' he said. Russia brokered a deal last month to end Iraq's showdown with Washington and the United Nations after Baghdad briefly expelled American weapons inspectors. In return for a decision to allow the U.S. inspectors back, Moscow promised to work seriously towards lifting the sanctions. But the United States has maintained its beefed-up military force in the region despite the apparent easing of the crisis. ''We consider the United States an international aggressor, violating all international morals and exploiting the situation in the Middle East to entrench its aggressive position in this region,'' Zhirinovsky said. ''He (Saddam) does not want military confrontation,'' he said, putting the blame for recent sabre-rattling firmly in Washington's court. Taking aim at U.S. international policy, its culture and history, Zhirinovsky said Americans were ''hooligans and cowards'' whose decisions were clouded by drug-taking. The United States, which accuses Iraq of thwarting U.N. efforts to scrap its weapons mass destruction, had a record of using chemical and nuclear weapons and should learn the lessons of defeated dictators Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. ''The world does not want to have one ruler,'' he said. ''I've never been to a country where I heard a demonstration in support of America, saying 'Long live America'. Everywhere you go in the world you hear: 'Down with America'.'' Zhirinovsky was speaking at Baghdad's Rasheed Hotel where visitors pass slogans on the pavement declaring ''Down with America'' before stepping on a picture of former U.S. president George Bush, labelled ''Bush the Criminal,'' as they enter. Bush rallied the U.S.-led military coalition which expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991. ^REUTERS@