Taking the anti-Saddam Hussein rhetoric to new heights, the United States has called the Iraq president a 'terrorist'.

"Well, certainly Saddam is the dictator of a state that is on the US terrorist list, so I see nothing that would indicate he is anything but a terrorist," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Wednesday.

On whether the US would go after him as in the case of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Fleischer said, "Yes, if force is used [to disarm Iraq], you can assume we would obviously not carve out a safety zone for Saddam Hussein."

On the Pope's comment that there is no moral or legal justification for war, Fleischer said, "If there are those who differ with the president [George W Bush] on this, he respects their opinion, ideas and thoughts.

"The president will listen carefully and, in the end, make a judgment that he thinks is best needed to protect the United States.

"The president thinks that the most immoral act of all would be if Saddam Hussein were to somehow transfer his weapons to terrorists who could use them against the US. So he does view the use of force as a matter of legality, as a matter of morality, and as a matter of protecting the American people," the spokesman said.