Saturday, March 15, 2003
Bush a 'dangerous fanatic': Soyinka
Agence France-Presse Lagos, March 13
Nigerian Noble laureate Wole Soyinka on Wednesday described US President George W Bush as a "dangerous fanatic" and called on the world to support the United Nations.
"We must embrace the burden of bringing authority back to where it naturally belongs ... the United Nations," the renowned Nigerian writer told an audience at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
As he spoke, the United States and Britain forged ahead in their diplomatic battle to win support for a UN resolution they had co-sponsored, with Spain, which would authorise military strikes against Iraq if it does not disarm by March 17.
The White House has made it clear that it will ignore the will of the UN Security Council if the body fails to endorse its military plans.
Soyinka, a 68-year-old author and activist who won literature's highest honour in 1986, said: "The present occupant of the White House is one of the most dangerous fanatics ever to bestride the earth."
In a lecture on the dangers of fanaticism in general, and especially of religious extremism in politics, he said Bush would be revealed as being "blinded by a Messianic fervour."
"George Bush Junior, like his running mate Osama bin Laden, serves as an illustration of the many contradictory notes in the spawning ground of evangelical extremism," he said, comparing the US leader to his sworn enemy, the leader of the violent Islamic radical group al-Qaeda.
Soyinka was in Lagos at the invitation of the Daily Independent newspaper to give a lecture on the problems facing Nigeria in the build up to next month's key national elections.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2002. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior permission To send your feedback, via web click here or email feedback at hindustantimes.com