Saddam: Iran more dangerous to Arabs than Israel

From AFP:

Saddam Hussein, the ousted Iraqi dictator hanged in 2006 for crimes against humanity, feared he would pick up sexual diseases while he was in US custody, according to extracts from prison writings published in an Arab newspaper.

Saddam said he asked his prison guards not to put their washing on the same clothes line as his, fearing he could contract "young people's diseases," the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported, citing his journal....

In his writings, Saddam also warned of the threat posed by neighbouring Shiite Iran to Iraq and the Arab world, saying it was more dangerous than Israel.

"The spread of the Persians... is more dangerous for Iraq than the Zionist entity, now and in the future," he said. "The Persians are similarly dangerous to the Arab nation, especially the Arab countries of the Gulf."