Bush bids Saddam ‘good riddance’

President Bush on Monday bid ‘‘good riddance’’ to Saddam Hussein and vowed to involve Iraqis in a public trial that airs ‘‘all the atrocities’’ he is accused of committing during his 24-year reign. Exuding contempt, Bush at one point directly addressed the deposed dictator.

‘‘Good riddance. The world is better off without you, Mr. Saddam Hussein. I find it interesting that when the heat got on, you dug a hole and crawled in it. And our troops, combined with intelligence, found you. And you’ll be brought to justice, something you did not afford your people.’’ At other points in his news conference, Bush called Saddam ‘‘a deceiver,’’ ‘‘a liar,’’ ‘‘a torturer,’’ ‘‘a murderer,’’ and ‘‘a tyrant.’’ He also expressed doubt that Saddam could be trusted on any information he might provide about weapons of mass destruction or connections he may have had to terrorist organisations. ‘‘I would be sceptical of anything he said,’’ Bush said.

Bush declined to reveal his preference for the punishment that Saddam deserved. ‘‘I’ve my own personal views of how he ought to be treated, but it’s going to be up to the Iraqis to make those decisions,’’ he said. ‘‘What matters is the Iraqi citizens. And we need to work, of course, with them to develop a system that is fair and where he will be put on trial and will be brought to justice — the justice he didn’t afford any of his own citizens.’’

Bush added, ‘‘a free Iraq will serve the peace and security of America and the world.’’ — LAT-WP