UN: US president Bush was denounced as "the devil", "a liar" and "a tyrant" in an address to the UN General Assembly by one of his most scathing critics, Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez.
Responding yesterday to Mr Bush's address to the UN on Tuesday, Mr Chavez said: "Yesterday the devil came here and this place still smells of sulphur."
The Latin American leader called for root-and-branch reconstruction of the UN to reduce US influence.
Making the sign of the cross as he referred to Mr Bush's speech, Mr Chavez said: "He came here talking as if he was the owner of the world." The US was guilty of the "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world", he said.
"We appeal to the people of the US and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head," the Venezuelan leader said, adding that the "immoral veto" exercised by the US at the Security Council had meant that Israeli attacks on Lebanon continued for more than a month. He said the UN "doesn't work" in its current system and was "anti-democratic".
At a packed press conference after his speech, Mr Chavez said it was too late to speak of merely reforming the UN. "At this point in time, given the degree of deterioration of the UN system, we can't speak of a reform but of a re-foundation." He claimed the system set in place after the second World War had "collapsed".
The UN system had been created for the "bipolar era" of the Cold War but that era was over. He forecast the imminent demise of the US "empire", an event that would be "for the good of all mankind".
He did not know whether the reconstituted world body should be called the United Nations.
Mr Chavez said "our friend Kofi Annan" could, as a starting point, set up a committee of heads of state and world leaders that would bring proposals to the General Assembly. This reconstituted world body would reflect what the Latin American patriot Simón Bolívar called "the balance or equilibrium of the universe". Venezuela was seeking election to the Security Council, where, Mr Chavez said, it would be "an independent voice", not only for Venezuela but for the peoples of the Third World. Venezuela would have "only one vote and no veto but will have a voice".
It would not be easy to recreate the UN because "the imperialism of the White House is enormous" and dissenting countries had been threatened with loss of World Bank and International Monetary Fund assistance. But he predicted: "In this struggle of David against Goliath, we are David and Goliath will fall down."
Far-reaching changes in the UN were also urged by Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who told the assembly on Tuesday: "The present structure and working methods of the Security Council, which are legacies of the second World War, are not responsive to the expectations of the current generation and the contemporary needs of humanity."
Referring to events in Lebanon he said: "For 33 long days, the Lebanese lived under the barrage of fire and bombs and close to 1.5 million of them were displaced; meanwhile, some members of the Security Council practically chose a path that provided ample opportunity for the aggressor to achieve its objectives militarily.
"We witnessed that the Security Council . . . was practically incapacitated by certain powers to even call for a ceasefire. [ It] sat idly by for so many days, witnessing the cruel scenes of atrocities against the Lebanese while tragedies such as Qana were persistently repeated."
On Iran's nuclear policy, he said: "All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors."
Yesterday the White House reacted to his address by underscoring a demand for Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment programme. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Mr Bush did not watch the Iranian leader's speech and would not engage with Iran until it had suspended its enrichment programme.
Tens of thousands of Israel supporters protested against Dr Ahmadinejad outside the UN building yesterday.