President Saddam Hussein of Iraq urged the world today to prevent the United States winning its war in Afghanistan, while his son's newspaper expressed fear that Washington and London would attack Iraq in November.
"The world now needs to abort the aggressive US schemes, including its aggression on the Afghan people, which must stop. It must not allow the US to be victorious," Saddam said.
He made the statement in an open letter to the West, his third since the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon near Washington.
"The world would not be saved from the deep abyss it is being push into by the US if the United States achieved victory in Afghanistan," Saddam wrote.
The United States and Britain began military strikes on Afghanistan three weeks ago after the ruling Taliban refused to surrender Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the US attacks.
Iraq's most influential newspaper warned simultaneously that Washington and London might switch their war against terrorism from Afghanistan to Iraq when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in mid-November.
"Perhaps they may suspend their operation in Afghanistan because of winter and they may commit new aggression against Iraq starting with the beginning of Ramadan," Babel said in a rare frontpage editorial.
US and British officials have said operations may not be restricted to Afghanistan in future but have avoided saying that Iraq or any other specific countries could become targets.