exclusive US President George W Bush is terrible and he seems to enjoy killing people - this is the damning verdict of ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

And if he has his way, the Malaysian strongman would try Bush as a war criminal for crimes against humanity in relation to the US military attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq.

"I mean, Bush deserves it," Mahathir told malaysiakini in an interview last Friday at his spacious office at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.

Sitting behind his large desk on which books and documents are piled up, Mahathir admitted regretting throwing his support behind Bush in the US presidential contest in 2000 against Al Gore.

"Al Gore was nasty, he came here in front of me and he told people to overthrow me. How can I support him?" said Mahathir, referring to Gore's speech in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.

The meeting was held two months after former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was sacked and this resulted in massive reformasi demonstrations in the capital city.

"But I didn't know what Bush was like. I knew the father but not the son... Anything seemed better than Gore," said Mahathir.

"Yes, I regret it certainly because I didn't know. This man (Bush) is really terrible, he seems to enjoy killing people."

Second interview

Mahathir, 81, who was dressed in a grey bush jacket complete with a campaign button 'In search of peace', appeared to have fully recovered from his minor heart attack two months ago.

"I've been on a vegetarian diet, but I need to take a bit of meat to keep my energy level up. The doctor told me not to get too excited. So don't excite me," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Mahathir said he would have to look after his health as the next heart attack could be "a big one".

Looking relaxed, he apologised for not having enough chairs for the malaysiakini team at his table.

"Some of you can sit on the floor," he quipped.

Mahathir had want the interview, the second with malaysiakini , to be solely on his campaign against war crimes. However, in the second half of the one-hour meeting, he couldn't resist giving his views on current affairs when prodded to do so.

War tribunal

Mahathir said the Perdana Leadership Foundation will actively support any war victims who want to take legal action against Bush.

However, before getting into that, Mahathir hopes to educate the world on the crimes perpetuated against innocent people by the US and its allies.

With this in mind, his foundation is organising a three-day conference cum exhibition titled 'Expose War Crimes: Criminalise War' at the Putra World Trade Centre from today.

Many eminent anti-war activists, internationally renown panel of speakers and Iraqi war victims will address the delegates.

The highlight of the conference is the formation of a War Crimes Commission and a tribunal to try war criminals and to ensure justice for the international community.

When asked if the commission and tribunal lacks credibility due to the choice of anti-war proponents as its members, Mahathir disagreed.

"No, there may not be credibility to some people, but there may be credibility to some others. We have chosen the members carefully. They are judges and they are going to make judgement-based on evidence. It is not a kangaroo court and (there) will be an open trial."

Trial mechanism

He said the aim of the commission and tribunal was to change the mindset of people and to consider war a crime.

Mahathir also said Bush must be stopped before he decides to attack Iran.

"With Bush, you can never tell, because this man, he just loves killing. He might go into Iran and if he goes into Iran, the situation will be worse than their experience in Iraq. Iranians may not like their government, but if you go into their country, they fight."

Mahathir also gave his views on how the economy should be managed, launched another round of attacks on his handpicked successor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and defended some of the decisions made during his 22-year rule.

The second part of the interview will be posted on Wednesday.

Q&A: Tribunal not a kangaroo court

Watch the 11-minute video below