Fischer:Bush a Criminal, Japan Corrupt

[Guest guest]

Freed former world chess champion Bobby Fischer on Thursday blasted

US President George W Bush for his eight months in detention in

Japan as he got ready for a new life in Iceland.

 

A visibly tired Fischer, sporting a long white beard and with a

protruding belly, called Bush a "criminal" over the US efforts to

extradite him for a 1992 match he played in Yugoslavia in defiance

of sanctions.

 

"I was kidnapped," Fischer told reporters in brief remarks as he

entered Narita Airport outside Tokyo to fly to Iceland via

Copenhagen.

 

Asked how he felt about Japan's role in his ordeal, Fischer said he

believed the country was "very, very corrupt".

 

"I'm not free until I get out of Japan," the 62-year-old chess

genius said.

 

"I am going to relax in Iceland," he said.

 

Fischer, known for his outspoken anti-US and anti-Jewish views, was

detained in July at Narita as he tried to fly to the Philippines,

with Japanese authorities saying his US passport was invalid.

 

The United States wants to prosecute Fischer, who became a national

hero for wresting the world title from the Soviet Boris Spassky in

1972, over a rematch in 1992 in Yugoslavia in defiance of sanctions

over the Balkan wars.

 

Iceland on Monday made Fischer a citizen in tribute to his role in

promoting the island through the 1972 chess battle, dubbed

the "match of the century".