Naguib Mahfouz calls for Saddam Hussein to resign

Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz, asked Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to abandon his rule to smooth tensions in the Gulf area.

Mahfouz added that he hoped Saddam would not have become involved in the war with Iran in 1980 - 1988 or in the Gulf War in 1991 and said that he should have dealt with those situations with wisdom, which he did in the recent problem between Iraq and the United Nations.

He expressed his sorrow over the United States' insistence on removing weapons of mass destruction from Iraq without asking the same thing from Israel.

Mahfouz said the world's attitude regarding this matter must be united to free the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction, especially Israel.