Thursday, April 21 2005 12:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: Hitting out at the United States for refusing to destroy its nuclear weapon arsenal, the last President of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, has charged it with being "hypocritical" and suffering from "sickness and disease of being the victor" for advising other countries against having such weapons.

In his first public appearance at the UN since his historic "glasnost" address to the General Assembly in 1988, Gorbachev said the US was "hypocritical" over nuclear armaments and not prepared to eliminate its own such arms.

"I think the United States is sick. It suffers from sickness, disease of being the victor and it needs to cure itself," he said.

"I think Russia is ready to cooperate. Now the question is, is the United States - which is the only remaining superpower - ready to do this? I think not myself," he said at a function at the United Nations where he presented the Cranston Peace Award to CNN founder Ted Turner.

Gorbachev advised Washington against suggesting that other countries have no need for nuclear weapons while it retains a large arsenal itself.

"They say other people don't need it, but what kind of law is this that they are advocating? It's the law of the jungle," he said.

After receiving the award, instituted by the Global Security Institute, Turner suggested a ten-year plan to make the world free of nuclear weapons.