Bush says the Iraqi president is a problem and he is going to fix it

US President George Bush talking about Iraq said yesterday, "This is a nation run by a man who is willing to kill his own people by using chemical weapons; a man who won't let inspectors into the country; a man who's obviously got something to hide. And he is a problem. And we're going to deal with him."

He said, "the first stage is to consult with our allies and friends, and that's exactly what we're doing," adding "but one thing I will not allow is a nation such as Iraq to threaten our very future by developing weapons of mass destruction."

He said he explains his concerns about Iraq to every world leader that comes to see him: "I explain our concerns about a nation which is not conforming to agreements that it made in the past, a nation which has gassed her people in the past, a nation which has weapons of mass destruction and apparently is not afraid to use them."

Iraq is one of the topics Vice President Dick Cheney is discussing with leaders on his current trip to 11 nations in the Middle East, Bush said.

Cheney is "reminding people about this danger and that we need to work in concert to confront this danger. Again, all options are on the table ... but one thing I will not allow is a nation such as Iraq to threaten our very future by developing weapons of mass destruction...They've agreed not to have those weapons. They ought to conform to their agreement, comply with their agreement," Bush said.