London Mayor Ken Livingstone has launched an astonishing attack on US President George W Bush, calling him "corrupt".

The mayor said: "I think George Bush is the most corrupt American president since Harding in the Twenties.

"He is not the legitimate president."

He later added: "This really is a completely unsupportable government and I look forward to it being overthrown as much as I looked forward to Saddam Hussein being overthrown."

Asked about Mr Livingstone's comments, White House Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer, said: "First of all, I've never heard of the fellow. Second, I'm not going to dignify it with a response."

And in a statement, officials from the US embassy in London, said:

"Mayor Livingstone's opinions about the United States are a matter of complete indifference to the American embassy, the American government and the American people."