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US President George W. Bush said Thursday that the US forces would remain in Iraq as long as necessary and suggested that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein might have been killed or wounded.
Asked if that could take as long as two years during an exclusive interview with NBC's "Nightly News" program, Bush said: "It could ... or less. Who knows?"
Bush said US forces were laying foundation for a democratic Iraq and "we want to leave as soon as we've accomplished our mission."
"People wonder if Saddam Hussein is dead or not. There's some evidence that suggests he might be," Bush said. "We would never make any declaration until we were more certain."
"But the person that helped direct the attacks believes that Saddam at very minimum was severely wounded," he said.
The US leader also warned Iran against interfering with Iraqi politics.
"We certainly hope that Iran will allow Iraq to develop into a stable and peaceful society," he said. "We have sent the word to the Iranians that that's what we expect."
(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2003)
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