Saddam: U.S. 'believes it should control the world'

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, right, greets Leonid Kozik, deputy prime minister of Belarus, on Monday in Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, accusing the United States of coveting Middle Eastern oil and believing it should "control the world," said Monday that such U.S. designs are starting to dawn on European leaders and should concern all the world's citizens.

Saddam was quoted on Iraqi TV while footage was aired showing him meeting with a diplomat from Belarus who was in Baghdad for economic talks. Belarus is a former Soviet republic that borders Russia.

"America," Saddam was quoted as saying, "believes it should control the world. But some of the world's states have nuclear bombs and this is not feasible."

Saddam said that if the United States "controlled Middle East oil, it would control the world. This oil represents 65 percent of world oil reserves. Therefore, America believes if it squashed Iraq, it would control the oil of the Middle East and consequently hold the oil in its hands [and] fix its price the way it likes."

Saddam said that it appears "Europe has discovered this at last."

"Its position is not in solidarity with Iraq for humanitarian and legal reasons only, but also in defense of the future, freedom and interests of Europe in the face of the scheme of America to control the world," he said.

Saddam was quoted as saying the situation "concerns every honest man in the world."

"Iraq's battle isn't only national and pan-Arab only, but a battle of mankind."